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Nearly 75 percent of guns used in crimes in NY come from other states: report – Metro US

Nearly 75 percent of guns used in crimes in NY come from other states: report

Nearly 75 percent of guns used in crimes in NY come from other states: report
New York Attorney General’s Office

Nearly three-fourths of all “crime guns” recovered by state law enforcement between 2010 and 2015 were purchased out-of-state, a new study found.

Lawmen seized 52,915 guns used in crimes in New York state during that time period, according to the report, “Target on Trafficking: Analysis of New York Crime Guns.” Of those, 74 percent were purchased in other states.

“The data makes one thing abundantly clear: New York’s strong gun laws are being undermined at every turn by lax laws in other states,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Tuesday in releasing the report.

“It’s time for the federal government — and other states — to take commonsense measures and ensure weak gun laws won’t continue to take the lives of New Yorkers,” he said.

More than half of the guns purchased out-of-state were from the so-called Iron Pipeline, the states along Interstate 95 with lax gun laws, particularly Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Nearly nine out of 10 handguns used in New York state crimes were purchased in other states, the report states.

Among other findings in the report:

Only 6 percent of the recovered guns were in the possession of the original buyer.

57 percent of the total recovered guns were handguns.

14 percent were rifles.

11 percent were shotguns.

The report is the first statewide study to breakdown data for recovered guns that have been connected to crimes. The study used data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.