Gun interests WANT criminals to have guns

[BainsBane]

66. Then WTF was the NRA opposing in congress?

And why are they running ads against Joe Manchin?

It's always nice when someone confirms the point raised in the OP. If gun interests didn't want to have criminals to have a steady supply of weapons, they wouldn't pretend that background checks were universal. They wouldn't pretend that gun shows, internet sales, and other private sales were subject to background checks. If all gun sales were already subject to background checks, the gun lobby wouldn't spend millions in lobbying and advertising to defeat the most modest proposals that only slightly expand background checks.

Here is another study you can pretend doesn't exist in order to guarantee criminals a steady supply of weapons.

In 2000, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) published the "Following the Gun" report.[20] The ATF analyzed more than 1,530 trafficking investigations over a two-and-a-half-year period and found gun shows to be the second leading source of illegally diverted guns in the nation. "Straw purchasing was the most common channel in trafficking investigations."[20] These investigations involved a total of 84,128 firearms that had been diverted from legal to illegal commerce. All told, the report identified more than 26,000 firearms that had been illegally trafficked through gun shows in 212 separate investigations. The report stated that: "A prior review of ATF gun show investigations shows that prohibited persons, such as convicted felons and juveniles, do personally buy firearms at gun shows and gun shows are sources of firearms that are trafficked to such prohibited persons. The gun show review found that firearms were diverted at and through gun shows by straw purchasers, unregulated private sellers, and licensed dealers. Felons were associated with selling or purchasing firearms in 46 percent of the gun show investigations. Firearms that were illegally diverted at or through gun shows were recovered in subsequent crimes, including homicide and robbery, in more than a third of the gun show investigations."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_shows_in_the_United_States