Media Hit Piece on “Ghost Guns” Uses Scare Tactics

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Posted on 12/24/2024 3:22:03 PM PST by marktwain

On December 12, 2024, USA Today published a hit piece on “ghost guns” attempting to use the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as a reason to impose unconstitutional restrictions on homemade firearms.

It appears Brian Thompson was assassinated with a homemade firearm. However, the manufacture of the firearm did not interfere with the investigation of his murder. The suspect was arrested without any assistance from gun tracing data, as is the case with virtually all violent crimes. Gun tracing has no measurable effect on solving violent crimes. It is difficult to find any violent crime that was solved with gun trace data. The USA Today article misleads from the first paragraph:

For decades, America’s detectives have made breakthroughs in crime using gun traces. A homicide investigator typically uses ballistics and serial numbers of weapons checked via a vast network of gun shop records, manufacturer IDs and crime databases.

The unstated conflation is from crimes of possession or illegal gun sales to homicide. Homicides that are solved by the use of trace data seem to be non-existent. It may have happened, but this correspondent has not found documented examples. If there were examples, they would be shouted out by the ATF and those who want a disarmed population. They are not. The USA Today article does not cite a single violent crime solved by using trace data.

Canada has required all handguns to be registered since 1934.  The Canadian handgun registration is far more effective and intrusive than the United States gun trace system.  In 1995, when the Canadian handgun registry had been in use for over 60 years, the Canadian Department of Justice could not identify a single instance where handgun registration helped to solve a crime. From publicsafety.gc.ca:

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A few thousand or a few hundred thousand "ghost guns" are insignificant in a nation with hundreds of millions of unregistered untraceable guns.

1 posted on 12/24/2024 3:22:03 PM PST by marktwain

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