I saw a number of articles like the one linked below and it got me thinking. In the article they discuss the fact that there are 20,000 individuals who possess guns in California that the government KNOWS are not supposed to have them. These are people who purchased the guns legally when they were not prohibited from ownership but then were convicted of crimes, had orders of protection filed against them, etc. However, the state does not have the resources to go and collect the firearms. So, in California, they are trying to pass more restrictive laws when they won't even go after the 20,000 THEY KNOW are illegally possessed.
There must be a similar situation here. We are a smaller state but there still must be a few thousand people that would fall under the above circumstances. My question is how can we get those numbers? I think it would help our argument against more restrictions placed on us law abiding citizens. If we could show statistics like the following:
Anyone have any idea how we can gain access to this data?
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Guns-illegally-owned-by-20-000-in-state-4234266.php
There must be a similar situation here. We are a smaller state but there still must be a few thousand people that would fall under the above circumstances. My question is how can we get those numbers? I think it would help our argument against more restrictions placed on us law abiding citizens. If we could show statistics like the following:
- Number of people KNOWN to currently possess firearms illegally.
- Number of plea bargains prosecutors made with violent criminals using guns
- Number of mental health records Maryland has not submitted to NICS
Anyone have any idea how we can gain access to this data?
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Guns-illegally-owned-by-20-000-in-state-4234266.php
