ABSTRACT

A major source of the firearms used by our felon sample was theft, the means by which 32% of our sample acquired their handguns. That theft of guns represents a major source of the firearms used by criminals has long been suspected, and yet, surprisingly little previous research on the topic has been reported. The presence of a relatively large group of Unarmed Criminals among the high-rate gun thieves illustrates an important point about gun theft that the motivation to steal a weapon need not simply be that the felon wants a gun for their own personal use. In South America, guns would be traded at high premium for cocaine or other drugs. Gun theft was fairly common among all groups of criminals, even among those who did not use guns to commit their crimes, but it was most common among the more serious gun abusers.