79% Criminals obtain guns illegally

Gun Violence: Justice Department Study Shows 79 Percent of Criminals
Obtained Firearms From Illegal Sources
By Jim Kouri, CPP
MichNews.com
Dec 1, 2004

Ninety-five percent of US police commanders and sheriffs believe most
criminals obtain their firearms from illegal sources, according to a
survey released by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.
Coincidentally, data released by the US Department of Justice appears to
confirm this claim by our nation’s police executives. The DOJ study
refutes the conventional wisdom that guns used in criminal acts are
purchased at retail stores or gun shows.

About 18 percent of state prisoners and 15 percent of federal prisoners
reported that they were armed when they committed the offense for which
they were imprisoned, according to the Justice Department’s Bureau of
Justice Statistics.

In the interviews, an estimated 9 percent of state prisoners and 2
percent of federal prisoners reported that they fired their weapon
during the commission of the crime.
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_5932.shtml