By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The burglary of a Camas, Washington indoor shooting range resulting in “multiple stolen firearms” is more evidence of the failure of gun control laws, and their misdirection, and provides a glimpse at how criminals get their guns, without background checks or waiting periods.
KOIN News in Portland, Oregon is reporting that Camas police arrived at the SafeFire shooting range just after 2 a.m. Feb. 25 to find that several firearms “were missing from the range’s retail area.”
According to KPTV News, the burglars entered the gun shop through the front glass door.
Over the past few years, Washington’s Democrat-controlled Legislature has passed increasingly stricter gun control laws, which critics contend only affect law-abiding citizens. They do not prevent criminals from obtaining or carrying guns, a contention which is underscored by reports at the Seattle Police Blotter like this one:
Seattle police did a search and “recovered three handguns, two rifles, and ammunition inside the residence. One of the firearms recovered by police was even found to be stolen during car prowl next to the suspect’s apartment.
“The suspect is a convicted felon and is prohibited from having firearms. He has past convictions of Drive by Shooting, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm x2, Identity Theft 2nd Degree x2, Felony Harassment and Trafficking in Stolen Property.”
According to a 2023 report at NPR, more than 1 million guns were stolen from private citizens between the years 2017 and 2021. The story noted how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said this is a “huge way” legally-purchased firearms wind up in the hands of criminals.
A report at Ammo.com noted that “only 10% of stolen guns are used in crimes annually, but 43.2% of criminals who used a firearm in the commission of a crime purchased it from an underground dealer.” That’s a dealer who does not have a federal firearms license to legally engage in the business.
But there was more in the Ammo.com story which essentially deflates one of the biggest myths promoted by the gun prohibition lobby, that gun shows are “arms bazaars for criminals.”
“Despite rhetoric about gun shows, firearms purchased from gun shows are the least likely to be used in crimes (0.8%), and those purchased from an FFL dealer by the offender are used in only 1.3% of crimes,” the report said, based on information contained in a survey of prison inmates in 2016.
That survey was conducted for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. It estimated that some 287,400 prisoners were armed during the commission of a crime.
“Among these,” the BJS report said, “more than half (56%) had either stolen it (6%), found it at the scene of the crime (7%), or obtained it off the street or from the underground market (43%). Most of the remainder (25%) had obtained it from a family member or friend, or as a gift. Seven percent had purchased it under their own name from a licensed firearm dealer
But a report at PBS tells a different story. According to the PBS Frontline report, “ATF agent Jay Wachtel says that most guns used in crimes are not stolen out of private gun owners’ homes and cars. “Stolen guns account for only about 10% to 15% of guns used in crimes,” Wachtel said. Because when they want guns they want them immediately the wait is usually too long for a weapon to be stolen and find its way to a criminal.”
Wachtel said gun thefts are “at the bottom of the list” when it comes to the sources of guns possessed by criminals. He pointed a finger at straw sales, for example, and also legally-licensed “but corrupt” commercial and “at-home” licensed gun dealers.
Who is right?
Meanwhile, anti-gun state and federal lawmakers continue targeting law-abiding citizens with restrictive gun control laws, many of which are being challenged in state and federal lawsuits around the country. Gun rights organizations including the National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Gun Owners of America and National Association for Gun Rights are all pursuing legal actions against various gun laws.
One thing reported by Ammo.com which seldom is given the attention it probably deserves is this: “Contrary to some assumptions, the rate of legal firearm owners, state and federal legislation, and the number of legal guns do not increase homicide rates. However, there is a clear correlation between the prevalence of stolen guns and increased homicide rates.”
This appears to reinforce the argument from gun rights advocates that laws should target violent offenders and leave law-abiding citizens alone.
