The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) 2018 figures show Illinois as the top source state for guns recovered in the state of Illinois.
The ATF numbers show 5,337 guns recovered in Illinois were traced and sourced as coming from Illinois.
Fourteen other states accounted for a total of 4,375 guns recovered in Illinois and traced to their source. Those states were Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, and Michigan.
A total of 792 other guns were recovered and sourced among a group of 34 other states.
Former president Barack Obama suggested the majority of guns recovered in Chicago were from other states, during a speech at the 122nd annual International Association of Chiefs of Police on June 27, 2015. The Indianapolis Star quoted him saying, “There are those who criticize any gun safety reforms by pointing to my hometown as an example. The problem with that argument, as the Chicago Police Department will tell you, is that 60 percent of guns recovered in crimes come from out of state. You’ve just got to hop across the border.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) told CNN’s State of the Union, “Our gun problem is related to the fact that we have too many illegal guns on our streets, 60 percent of which come from states outside of Illinois.”
The ATF’s 2018 figures also show that guns recovered and traced to source are over nine times more likely to be pistols than rifles of any kind.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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