Where Do Criminals Get Guns?

Well, we keep getting reports like this one:

The nation’s Homeland Security officers lost nearly 200 guns in bowling alleys, public restrooms, unlocked cars and other unsecure areas, with some ending up in the hands of felons.

I’m pretty sure those guns that federal agents leave lying around are not going into the collections of the same folks who buy guns legally, get training, apply for CCW permits, and get the permits they apply for because they pass a criminal background check. Those are the sort of people who would call the police if they found a gun in a rest room stall. It’s safe to say that all guns missing from unlocked cars end up in the hands of criminals because only a person with criminal intent would remove it from the unlocked car.

Because every gun has a serial number that can be traced to its owner the number of “lost” guns reported by a federal agency is most likely guns that have been and remain lost. If one of those guns were turned in it would not be counted in the number of lost guns. Such a gun would be a liability in the hands of a citizen who was not a criminal because the serial number would immediately identify it as a gun that person should not have. It wouldn’t matter to a criminal because any gun in the hands of a felon is per se an illegal gun.

I’m not suggesting that careless federal agents are a main source of criminal guns, but they do seem to lose a lot of guns. Even the ATF loses guns, the agency that would prosecute a gun store for such behavior.