Guns used to kill police officers: Where they come from and how they get in the hands of criminals
From the story:
In 30 cases, the newspaper obtained confidential firearms traces generated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Nice to know they respect these laws they're whining about other people breaking.
![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
But the ratio found by The Post matches that for U.S. homicides in general, experts say, reflecting the preference among criminals for handguns because they are generally cheaper and easier to conceal.
Ha.
"There's such a disparity between the gun laws in different states," said Lt. Howard Schechter, head of the forensic investigation unit for Albany, N.Y., police. "Down South, their feelings about guns and gun control are completely different. Both Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, they're generally very easy places to get guns."
Thankfully it's very difficult to get guns in New York. Police never arrest anyone with them, and they're never used in crimes.
He said ATF studies found that the percentage of people caught committing gun-related crimes with legally purchased guns is about 15 percent, less than half the rate found by The Post in the police killings.
Wait, a newspaper's investigation doesn't add up? That's un-possible.
Police gun (51)
Shortly after 3 a.m. Oct. 13, 2007, New Orleans police detective Thelonious Dukes Sr., 47, was working on his motorcycle outside his home on the city's east side. Two armed men appeared on foot, their faces partially covered by bandannas.
Unaware that Dukes was a cop, they ordered him into the house and demanded money. He told them about his safe in the master-bathroom closet. The detective's wife, Lynette, lay awake in bed, silent and still. She heard her husband identify himself as a police officer and offer them money for his family's safety.
I mean no disrespect, but this guy didn't get killed because somebody else had a gun. His own stupidity got him killed and his wife shot.
Obtained on the street (41)
I like how they pretend with this number that "obtained on the street" is some kind of official method. All "obtained on the street" means is it was in an illegal transaction, which almost every single one of these guns was involved in.
In a rare move in Michigan, federal authorities went after Sherman for knowingly giving a firearm to a felon, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
So these crimes are rarely prosecuted, and they keep happening. I don't see any connection there...
They walked into Atlantic Gun & Tackle, and Bryan spotted the gun he wanted: an $800 Glock Model 21 .45-caliber handgun.
$800 for a G21?!? This should be grouped in the theft category.
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
Doesn't every gun start out as a legally owned weapon?
No.
The problem with that idea is that it doesn't make logistical sense for criminals to smuggle guns into the US when stealing or strawing them domestically is " cheaper. "
They do. People have been arrested with them in your fair city, nice guns too. The problem is there's no way to get a good grasp on this because Guntrace isn't always done, heck some cops don't know that it exists. Even when it is done, ATF doesn't say how many recovered guns they weren't able to trace, which they won't be able to do if the gun entered the country illegally.
What this "study" doesn't tell us is the truth of the matter, that criminals will obtain guns by any means necessary. Thefts from private homes/gun stores/military bases/police stations/police cars, illegally imported, straw purchased, homemade, NICS failures, legal purchases, robberies of other criminals, etc. There is no limit on the number of possible sources when you're willing to kill, rob, steal or ignore thousands of laws to get them. They're also ignoring the inconvenient truth that the guns were being possessed, carried or used in violation of countless laws in
every single one of these cases.
The FBI does a much better job examining the circumstances cops killed in the line of duty. Their main advantage is that they pay attention to detail, and don't try to focus on one aspect, since cops are killed in all kinds of different ways by criminals. Cops carry guns because they deal with violent criminals who will kill them if given half the chance, kill them by any means necessary. The only world where cops won't be attacked and/or killed is the kind of dreamworld that doesn't require cops in the first place.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
