Buy A Gun Day

April 15 is Buy A Gun Day!

Aaron's cc:

Sources of Guns Used in Crimes – FBI Report

By

FBI reports:
According to the 1997 Survey of State Prison Inmates, among those possessing a gun, the source of the gun was from –

  • a flea market or gun show for fewer than 2%
  • a retail store or pawnshop for about 12%
  • family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source for 80%

In other words, it ain’t legal purchases from firearms dealers in legal shops or gun shows that criminals use.”

After 1996, less than 10% of nonfatal violent crimes involved firearms.

Only 2% of prison inmates used a military-style semiautomatic gun.

“Offenders armed with handguns committed one in every eight violent crimes–rape, robbery and assault–measured by BJS’s National Crime Victimization Survey. The other violent crime victims were attacked or threatened by offenders who were either unarmed or were armed with such weapons as rocks, sticks, knives or other types of firearms. The most common violent crime, simple assault, by definition does not involve the use of a weapon.” That is, going after firearms only goes after 12.5% of the violent offenses.

Recidivism
* Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime.
* The 272,111 offenders discharged in 1994 accounted for nearly 4,877,000 arrest charges over their recorded careers.
* Within 3 years of release, 2.5% of released rapists were rearrested for another rape, and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for a new homicide.
* Sex offenders were less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any offense –– 43 percent of sex offenders versus 68 percent of non-sex offenders.
* Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison –– 5.3 percent of sex offenders versus 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders.

In other words, keep illegal guns out of the hands of urban youth of gangbanger age, especially those who have immediate family that have been incarcerated, and firearm ownership becomes statistically insignificant. The best way to keep the guns away would be to keep the felons who have used illegal firearms in prison.

Happy THIS Ad Slipped Past the Los Angeles Times!

By

Signs that the LA Times is desperate… allowing a full-page ad for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. But I’m happy it’s there.

The ad was paid for by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

When you donate to the NSSF, they can help educate those whose 2A muscles have atrophied or never been exercised.

If your local newspaper carried the same ad, please comment here.

Richard Henry Lee

By

rhlee“[W]hereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them; nor does it follow from this, that all promiscuously must go into actual service on every occasion. The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle; and when we see many men disposed to practice upon it, whenever they can prevail, no wonder true republicans are for carefully guarding against it.”
–Richard Henry Lee, Letters from the Federal Farmer, 1788

In God We Trust, In Guns We Invest

By

buy-gun-stocks

I can have a gold or silver coin in my pocket. Nice pieces of metal with some utilitarian value if melted. When the SHTF, which will appreciate more, coins or guns and ammo? I suspect a firearm purchased for $800, well taken care of, would appreciate faster than gold if there was civil unrest.

Apparently, firearms aren’t a bad financial investment today, either:

ISTOCKANALYST: …But it doesn’t seem as if law enforcement is interesting in quelling the panic. “Once the economy gets bad, crime always goes up,” a police officer told the St. Pete Times, “People get desperate whenever things are not going the way they feel like they should be going, and they’ll do things they normally wouldn’t do.”

Crime isn’t the only factor driving sales. In several news accounts, gun buyers have said they’re buying now because they fear stricter gun laws are inevitable under the new administration.
…
we think you should seriously consider firearms. No, we’re not advocating the purchase of guns… Instead, you should check out a couple of small-cap gun makers. These companies have withstood the test of time. Now, they’re enjoying more publicity and rising share prices…

First up is Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC: NASDAQ). This company has been making guns longer than any of us have been on the planet. It’s also a trusted brand that has expanded its offerings over the past few years…

After a tumultuous few years, this stock has posted a strong 2009. Shares are up about 80% since Jan.1.

The gun maker has big plans. Smith & Wesson has moved into the rifle market and wants to take full advantage of this expansion. In February, the gun maker announced it plans to nearly double its annual revenue and improve margins and market share over the next few years.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR: NYSE) shares have enjoyed similar success this year. As of this morning, the stock is up more than 80%. The firearms makers reported huge increases in revenue and backlog during Q4, and several analysts have upgraded this stock to a strong buy.

Ruger stock might even be too hot to handle right now. It’s posted most of its gains in just a few weeks. Short-term technicals show this stock is way overbought, so it might be best to wait for a pullback before jumping in…