Mike Levin: “the demand for firearms by criminals and other prohibited purchasers is high. Unfortunately, there are also some dealers…”

“the demand for firearms by criminals and other prohibited purchasers is high. Unfortunately, there are also some dealers willing to supply those firearms. The simple fact is that criminals would not be able to so readily acquire weapons without gun dealers who are willing to bypass gun sales laws. This willingness by some licensed gun dealers to supply gun traffickers with firearms provides a steady flow of guns into the illegal market. Multiple sales of the same model of gun to an individual are considered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF, to be among the prime indicators that gun trafficking is occurring from a gun shop. Gun collectors generally do not collect duplicates of the same firearm. The attempt to make multiple purchases of the same weapon should raise a red flag for the dealer to the possibility of trafficking, and reports of multiple sales to the ATF by responsible gun dealers provide a significant percentage of leads for gun trafficking investigations. According to ATF reports, handguns sold as part of multiple sales comprised nearly a quarter of all guns sold in 1999 that were traced to crime that same year. Moreover, guns with obliterated serial numbers, a clear sign of trafficking, are substantially more likely to have been part of a multiple sale.”