Natalia Chi
usage of ghost gun — Homemade firearms that can be assembled with parts purchased online or with a 3D printer — In the U.S., crime has increased more than 1,000% since 2017, the Justice Department said in a federal report released Wednesday. . The findings are based on tracking data collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and present the most comprehensive data on U.S. crime and guns in 20 years.
The information collected provides information about previously unknown patterns in gun and crime use.
CBS New York
There is no data on how many ghost gun parts are sold or how many ghost guns exist, dramatic rise in use These privately-made gun crime rates provide insight into the explosive number of such guns in the hands of the American public.
Ghost gun tracking requests filed by police with the ATF surged from 1,629 in 2017 to 19,273 in 2021, the report said, but the data could be significantly underreported. I warn you it’s too high.
In total, police submitted 1,922,5771 criminal guns to the ATF for pursuit between 2017 and 2021. Chicago topped the list of cities with the most crime gun recoveries.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, Benjamin Hayes, a former ATF special agent and branch manager of the ATF National Tracing Center, told CBS News.
“We continue to produce so many firearms, and they are flooded into the public domain. I can,’ he said.
Under New Federal Regulations ghost gun regulations, implemented in August, commercial manufacturers of Ghost Gun assembly kits must include a serial number. Sellers must be federally licensed, perform background he checks before selling home-made gun kits, and keep records of purchases for as long as they are open for business.
Former prosecutor Kamala Harris said ghost guns pose a “particularly significant threat to the safety of our community” because of their easy availability and difficulty in tracking. Speaking at the White House Regulation announced in April.
Ghost guns are just one troubling indicator where the information collected has provided insight into previously unidentified patterns in gun and criminal use.
The data also show that the guns used in the crime were purchased relatively recently. During the five-year reporting period, nearly 25% of guns tracked by the ATF after being recovered from a crime were purchased within the past year, and 46% within three years.
This is a metric known as “time to crime” and is “from the date the firearm was last purchased (often the original retail purchaser, or where additional transfer information is available to the last purchaser). The length of time until the purchase date of a firearm.” It was recovered by law enforcement as a criminal firearm,” the report explains.
Richmond, Detroit, and Columbia, South Carolina are among the cities with the lowest average Time to Crime statistic in the report, while New York, Baltimore, and San Jose are among the cities with the highest average Time to Crime statistic. was one. It’s a familiar pattern, said Daniel Webster, professor and director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“All states with the highest ‘time to crime’ have the strongest gun laws, and generally speaking, states with the lowest ‘time to crime’ have the weakest gun laws.” said Webster.
Most of the “criminal guns” tracked by the ATF were found within 10 miles of the last buyer’s home. Even though nearly 60% of those guns were used by someone else in the crime.
According to the report, more than 90% of criminal guns were brought in by men, with the highest age group being 21 to 25 years old.
According to Webster, these are notable increases in data not seen in the past few years, and large-scale increased gun sales since the pandemic started.
An estimated 7.5 million Americans became new gun owners between January 1, 2019 and April 26, 2021, according to the 2021 National Firearms Survey.
For the first time in 20 years, the report named manufacturers whose guns were used in crime. The most common type of gun used in was the 9 mm pistol.
The ATF named dealers who sold many criminal guns until the Tiahrt Amendment to the Justice Department appropriations bill in 2003 ended the practice.
Providing dealer information alongside gun manufacturer data would help control the flow of guns used in crime, Webster said.
“There are benefits to be gained,” said Webster. “A significant number of dealers are systematically and routinely expanding their markets, which is one of the main reasons for the increase in gun violence.”
