Any gun owners

[mix4fix]

That site is misleading. It tries to imply that in a state with less gun control, people still buy illegal guns. Fact is, criminals will buy illegal guns in any state, hence why they are criminals.

[brombo]

This helps in explaining where "illegal" guns come from -

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontlin ... /guns.html

[Cogito]

Brombo,

2016 DOJ data does not agree with ATF agent’s anecdotal take based on 1994 data.

I am sure there are a few bad dealers. The Q is, how many did ATF prosecute ?

[brombo]

What is needed to get reliable numbers is the end the ban on gun use research so the feds can get good numbers we need to act upon.

[tomp]

This helps in explaining where "illegal" guns come from -

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontlin ... /guns.html

I agree with this. When I worked in the crime lab by far the biggest source of illegal guns that came through the lab were straw purchases. The next biggest were guns "stolen" from legal dealers who just happened to have many "thefts" through the year. Common sense is that any merchant who really had that many thefts would be out of business.

[m1garandusa]

The problem with CDC researching gun data is that it is very hard to find doctors, epidemiologists and medical researchers who aren't biased against guns. The CDC lost face when it was revealed that they were counting people up to age 21 when reporting firearm related child deaths. This greatly and artificially inflated the rates. And most of the media did no research into this. No reputable person would consider a 21-year-old a child. The military will take people in at 17, and they don't get sent to a pediatrician, nor does the UN classify a 17-year old as a child soldier. Unfortunately, the CDC has a bias that should preclude it from weighing in on constitutional matters.
We do need to focus on mental health, though. And not just for guns. It permeates the homeless problem and dances closely with drug and alcohol abuse.

[brombo]

Please send reference where you found this information on CDC.

[FerdinandII]

CDC officials unabashedly supported gun bans and poured millions of dollars into “research” that was, in fact, advocacy. One of the lead researchers employed in the CDC’s effort was quoted, stating “We’re going to systematically build the case that owning firearms causes deaths.” Another researcher said he envisioned a long-term campaign “to convince Americans that guns are, first and foremost, a public health menace.”

One of the effort’s lead researchers was a prominent attendee at a conference called the Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan (HELP) Network, which was “intended to form a public health model to work toward changing society’s attitudes towards guns so that it becomes socially unacceptable for private citizens to have guns.”

[FerdinandII]

In 1996, Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) attached an amendment to the annual appropriations bill for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stipulating that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” This has appeared in every CDC spending bill thereafter.

The Dickey amendment does not ban research; it bans the CDC from advocating gun-control policies. Those are two distinct things. In fact, we believe the amendment should remain in the appropriations bill as a policy guardrail to focus the research on data collection and analysis that would inform policymakers. It assures legislators that funds appropriated for research will be used only for research.

[FerdinandII]

Please send reference where you found this information on CDC.

Just Google "CDC biased gun research"