Criminals in ‘gun-free’ cities illegally buy guns off the black market, study shows; proposed gun control laws would only disarm citizens, not criminals

05/11/2016 / By JD Heyes / Comments

It’s a gun fact that most experts on the issue of firearms proliferation know well, but a new study has reaffirmed it: Gun control laws, even gun bans, do nothing to stop criminals from obtaining weapons.

Conducted by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, researchers surveyed inmates at the Cook County jail as to where they mostly got the guns they used to allegedly commit crimes. The study focused on “inmates who were facing gun charges or whose criminal background involved gun crimes,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Researchers found that most got their firearms on the streets from “personal connections,” rather than from outlets like gun shows or on the Internet.

The study’s findings from research conducted in President Obama’s adopted hometown are telling, if meaningless, given that he is reportedly planning to issue, via executive order, new curbs on guns that could include widening background checks to include some sales at gun shows – where the overwhelming majority of sales are conducted in a legal, transparent manner.

‘Conducted in secret’

The Washington Post and other media reported that the actions will also include requiring “occasional” gun sellers to be licensed like regular gun dealers. As per this administration’s modus operandi, the Obama administration’s “study” into these new proposals “has been conducted in relative secrecy,” The Post noted. Also typical, the administration has not bothered to get input from outside organizations that are not pro-gun control.

“A few months ago, I directed my team at the White House to look into any new actions I can take to help reduce gun violence,” he said. “And on [Jan.4], I’ll meet with our attorney general, Loretta Lynch, to discuss our options.

“Because I get too many letters from parents, and teachers, and kids to sit around and do nothing,” Obama continued. “I get letters from responsible gun owners who grieve with us every time these tragedies happen; who share my belief that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to bear arms; and who share my belief we can protect that right while keeping an irresponsible, dangerous few from inflicting harm on a massive scale.”

Of course, members of Congress also get letters – many of them – imploring them to oppose Obama’s obsession with unconstitutional gun control, but we shouldn’t expect the president to concede that.

Nevertheless, the basis for his actions – allegedly, in part, to curb illegal gun sales – will be another meaningless gesture aimed at placating the Left-wing Democratic voter base, as the University of Chicago study has proven.

As the Chicago Sun-Times noted, crime lab co-director Harold Pollack said the research indicates that “some of the pathways [regarding guns] people are concerned about don’t seem so dominant.” He also noted very few inmates said they shopped for a firearm at a gun show or online.

Rather – and this makes perfect sense to any reasonable person – the inmates surveyed said they much preferred an untraceable transaction (and untraceable gun). Pollack said that the inmates knew they ran a risk of being caught by police but “were less concerned about getting caught by the cops that being put in the position of not having a gun to defend themselves and then getting shot,” since Chicago is the country’s mass murder capital.

Obama hypocrisy on illegal gun sales

As noted by Breitbart, which cited the survey:

“The vast majority of the inmates used handguns to commit their crimes or protect themselves, very few cited using ‘military-style assault weapons.’ And they said their habit was to get rid of a gun after one year because of the ‘legal liability’ of being caught with a gun that could be linked to crimes they or others committed.”

Regarding specifics on gun purchases, some inmates said that gangs have individuals who possess a Firearm Owners Identification Card, who purchase guns and then sell them back to gang members. Still others said that “corrupt cops” who had seized firearms would then “put them back on the street.”

But all surveyed were emphatic that they never walk into a gun store to make a purchase. This proves what gun rights groups have said all along – that onerous new gun restrictions only punish the law-abiding, and that criminals easily avoid them.

Speaking of selling guns to criminals, Obama is about as hypocritical as it gets, considering his administration’s operation to “walk” guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, via the “Fast and Furious” debacle.

Sources:
Chicago.SunTimes.com
Breitbart.com
WashingtonPost.com
TheDailyBeast.com
NewsroomAmerica.com

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criminal gun purchases, gun control, Obama

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