The national debate about gun violence in the United States generally falls into familiar patterns. We express shock and horror at acts of unspeakable violence, grieve for victims and their families and ask questions about the individual who pulled the trigger and what could have been done to intervene with them to prevent the tragedy. But there is one crucial actor who is largely absent from these conversations: the industry responsible for putting guns into our communities in the first place.
For more information on Youth Gun Violence Prevention, go to JJIE Resource Hub | Youth Gun Violence Prevention
The gun industry in this country is massive. From 2014 to 2018, nearly 47 million guns were manufactured domestically and another 21 million were imported, totaling 68 million new guns for sale in American communities. In 2018, there were nearly 56,000 gun dealers licensed to sell these guns, spread across every state. And while the publicly available data on gun sales is purposefully opaque, we know that gun sales have spiked dramatically in the last few months as a result of the pandemic, with one estimate finding that almost 3 million more guns were sold from March through June than would have normally been expected.
Chelsea Parsons
In light of the sheer volume of firearms being produced and sold and the inherently dangerous nature of this consumer product, one would expect there to be a robust regulatory framework in place to ensure sufficient oversight of this industry and protect the health and safety of the community. Unfortunately, thanks to a combination of restrictive laws, insufficient resources and lack of political will, the gun industry is effectively unregulated.
The Center for American Progress recently released a report that offers a detailed look at the myriad ways our current laws and policies fail to ensure effective regulatory oversight of the gun industry, touching on nearly every aspect of firearms commerce. To begin, a combination of legal restrictions and insufficient budget mean that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — the federal agency responsible for regulating the gun industry — is unable to inspect gun dealers on a regular basis to ensure compliance with the law.
These inspections are crucially important: In fiscal year 2019, 47% of the gun dealers who were inspected were found to have violations, which ranged from failure to properly complete the paperwork necessary for crime gun tracing, to failure to conduct a background check. Compliance inspections are also a crucial tool for uncovering missing and stolen guns, a significant concern considering that more than 5,600 guns were reported stolen from gun dealers in 2019 alone.
Current law and policy also falls short when it comes to determining the type of guns that may be legally sold. While gun manufacturers are required to place serial numbers on all finished firearms and receivers that are sold — and gun dealers are required to conduct background checks before selling them — there is a loophole that allows “unfinished” receivers to be manufactured and sold without these safeguards.
These unfinished receivers allow individuals to make fully functional firearms at home just by drilling a few holes, leading to a proliferation of “ghost guns” in many communities: guns that are purchased without a background check and are virtually untraceable when they are discovered after being used in a crime. Ghost guns have recently gained popularity among white supremacist terrorist groups around the country.
Gun manufacturers and dealers are also largely immune from being held accountable when their dangerous products are used to cause harm in our communities. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, signed into law in 2005, granted sweeping immunity to the gun industry to shield them from lawsuits in federal and state court. While this law includes some narrow exceptions, it has largely served to shut down litigation against gun manufacturers and dealers for harm caused by their products, eliminating one avenue for incentivizing the industry to take steps to prevent such harms and leaving victims without justice.
A crucial component of any comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence in the United States is a focus on implementing robust regulation and oversight of the gun industry. Efforts to reduce gun violence that focus solely on the demand side of the problem ignore the role of the gun industry in manufacturing and distributing the guns that are the instruments of this violence.
Focusing solely on the individuals who use guns to commit acts of violence is not only ineffective, it’s also an approach that has contributed to overcriminalization and targeting of communities of color as part of a “tough on crime” approach to criminal justice. To truly address all aspects of the gun violence epidemic in this country, policymakers must focus on the role the gun industry plays in enabling and exacerbating this violence.
Chelsea Parsons is the vice president of gun violence prevention at American Progress. Her work focuses on advocating for progressive laws and policies relating to gun violence prevention and the criminal justice system at the federal, state and local levels.
It isn’t the fucking gun stupid.
Fools like you and the trash you write are far more responsible for the continuous commitment of these violent crimes than damn gun is. This kind of narrow minded idiocy is exactly what’s fueling these crimes.
The gun is completely and utterly irrelevant to cause of these crimes. Blaming firearms and firearm manufacturers for the crimes of criminals is like blaming McDonald’s for obesity or Hershey’s for diabetes. Both of which you probably do and the stupidity of doing so is an understatement.
When one applies your narrow minded logic to other crimes and evil deeds such as the Holocaust for example. You’re pretty much stating that Hitler and the Nazis weren’t responsible for the genocide of millions of Jews because the blame and responsibility falls upon the Jewish chemist who’s work led to the creation of zyclon b, the pesticide company that manufactured it, and the gas chamber itself.
Since we are blaming irrelevances might as well go all the way.
There is only human violence committed by humans with human intentions.
Why not use your goddamned brain and stop blaming irrelevances instead of the people responsible for such evil deeds including yourself.
Why not expand your highly deluded narrow minded point of view and attempt to understand the whys and what’s in society that’s causing people to justify committing such evil acts in the first place instead of blaming something that is completely irrelevant to act.
Neither the gun, nor their manufacturers create mass murderers or cause it and they sure hell aren’t responsible for it.
What reality do these fools live in?
Its almost like these people just can’t wait to completely abandoned all reality and common goddamned sense in the name of feeding their own addictions to denials and delusions.
Someone actually hands over hard earned money to these journalists to write useless articles like this?
Seriously?
It seems the author has never attempted to purchase a gun before. If she had then she would know that sales of firearms are heavily regulated.
I cannot buy a firearm for my wife. I must buy it for me and then effect a transfer through a Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer. Can anybody else provide an example where it requires government permission(and associated fees)to provide my wife with a gift?
I’m curious as to how she thinks blaming the gun makers and gun owners for the BATFE’s inability to ‘police’ the industry is anybody else’s problem or fault than the BATFE.
Apparently, the author is unaware (or perhaps feigning ignorance?) that juveniles are prohibited under Federal law from possessing handguns, regardless of the origin of the handgun.
Here’s a real, statistical analysis (instead of the unsubstantiated drivel of young Chelsea Parsons):
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“Gun Use by Male Juveniles: Research and Prevention” by Alan Lizotte and David Sheppard, as documented on the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Programs website.
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There, you will read a scholarly article filled with documented facts and studies.
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It’s a study that even Chelsea Parsons can comprehend.
Ignore crimes of violence committed by Blacks and Hispanics and America looks a lot more tranquil. It’s not a gun problem. It’s a gene problem.
I guess she doesn’t know there is an entire government industry assigned to regulated the firearms industry. It’s called the The Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and FIREARMS, you moron.
I’m curious about a few things after reading this article:
1. Has the author ever tried to purchase a firearm? If not, the author is speculating.
2. Has the author ever attended an NRA or CMP sanctioned shooting event? If not, is the reason that the author has a wholesale disregard for the Constitutional rights of tens of millions of law abiding owners and users of firearms? Perhaps attending such an event might alter the author’s imagination?
And, finally:
3. What is the author’s plan to convince criminals to give up their guns and stop shooting people should firearms somehow be banned?
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Until these questions are answered, why should any rational person give any sincere consideration to the veracity and character of the author?
“Focusing solely on the individuals who use guns to commit acts of violence is not only ineffective, it’s also an approach that has contributed to overcriminalization and targeting of communities of color” …how would we know that? Have we actually tried that yet? Exactly how many felons found in possession of a prohibited weapon are convicted on that charge? How often are those weapons charges dropped or plea-bargained away by prosecutors?
Stop trying to disarm the people who AREN’T the problem.
There are three types of people: wolves, sheep, and sheepdogs. The wolves prey on the sheep and are afraid of the sheepdogs. The sheepdogs serve the Shepherd and protect the Flock. The sheep just want to eat their grass and wish to be left in peace; but even though the sheepdogs are there to protect them – from the sheep’s perspective, the sheepdog still looks an awful lot like a wolf. This is why the sheep want the sheepdogs to have their teeth (guns) taken away. They see little difference between the sheepdogs and the wolves. But even if the sheepdogs pull their teeth and turn to eating grass, the wolves will not. Sheepdogs, do not give up your guns or your right to fight back, no matter how loudly the sheep may bleat.
You liberals think you’ve got it all figured out. Stricter gun control and the problem goes away. Wrong! What you create is a society of victims who umable to protect themselves from criminals who never have and never will care about your laws. I’ m sure they are in favor of gun control. This was the dumbest, most poorly thpught out article I’ ve read in some time.
Wow. And you thought you were presenting a clever, well-thought out article pushing for more gun control but all you did was show how utterly and ridiculously ignorant you really are. Drug companies kill a hundred times more people every year than guns but the gun industry is WAY more regulated. Why don’t you learn some facts before you send out another editorial and then maybe someone will see you as a credible source of information. Go back to school, idiot.
Why don’t you ask a gun shop, which must hold a federal firearms license in order to do business, what it takes for a private citizen to purchase a firearm? You will quickly learn that the industry is far from unregulated. Violent criminals get their guns from family, friends and other criminals none of whom will go to the effort of obtaining a federal license.
The short term solution to violent crime is to arrest and convict violent criminals and lock them up for a long time. Even if it does nothing else, locking them up deprives them of access to more victims until they are released. Stop worrying about criminals. Victims count; the criminals don’t.
That was one of the dumbest articles ever written. The only person responsible for violence is the criminal, not an inanimate object or its manufacturer.
Do you want to sue Ford for deaths by drunk drivers?
How stupid can you be?
Hi Chelsea, I’m extremely curious, why you choose to blame the ACTION of a Human upon an inanimate object, and the industry that manufacturers it? Seems to me that PEOPLE are responsible for their Actions. Blaming others, or objects is admitting you have no control over yourself, and no responsibility for the choices you make. To take it a step further, it would seem to me if that we’re true; that you probably should not be allowed to function freely in society, but should be locked up in an institutional facility. Violence is not something you purchase, it is a human response / action / reaction to outside stimulus your mind has evaluated. It is violence when it is outside the realm of an intelligent / logical / sensible thought process. Sadly, very little of that hat is used by those who oppose firearms. Rather than attempting to understand the cause of the violence response, we illogically believe limiting the product will stop the action.
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Well, the vast majority of crime is committed by people of color. Especially violent crime. And people of color are entirely unregulated. So maybe we could try some common sense regulations and restrictions on people of color before we add more regulations to the enormous pile that already govern forearm ownership and use.
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Fascinating piece. What’s interesting to me is that you can replace the word gun (firearm) with “auto, soda, alcohol or opiods) and it’s the same article.
Gun manufacturers produce a legal product designed to be used for legal purposes. The choice to use the gun for illegal purposes (as a note – murder, assault, etc. are illegal in every jurisdiction in the US) is not made by the manufacturer – but by people.
I know of no lawful gun owner who wants weapons in the hands of criminals, someone with suicidal thoughts or the mentally ill. Note: replace gun with anything and it’s the same thing.
In what instance has increased regulation of design/manufacturing had a positive impact on crime? Alcohol sales are regulated at distribution. Auto sales are basically unregulated.
Do we have a violence problem in the US? Absolutely. Is it made worse by access to matches, gasoline, guns, knives and cars (all things with which people have taken lives)? 100%. However, it is irresponsible to suggest that these are causal. So, let’s maybe focus our energy around solving the actual problems of economic disparity, food security, educational access, family separation and illegal drugs – all of which seem more proximately causal than anything in this article.
A firearm is no more “inherently dangerous” than is a hammer, a kitchen knife or an extension cord.
But I thought “communities of color” bore an outsized share of violent crime, shouldn’t law enforcement target criminals there to ensure the safety of those residents?
This is surely a satire piece, right? The firearm industry in America is, objectively, the most heavily regulated industry in the country.
Are you serious? So the gun industry; which is the only consumer goods industry with an entire chapter of US Code regulating it’s operation, along with over 30,000 individual state laws regarding firearms use, manufacture, and possession; is unregulated, and not held accountable? Get the hell outta here with that one. The only people that buy this are those ignorant of the facts. How about we address violent crime, and not just one method by which it is perpetrated? FCA wasn’t held liable for the white supremacist that ran over protesters in Charlottesville with his Challenger, so why should firearms manufacturers be held to a different standard?