Tag Archives: iron pipeline

Rust Pipeline

Gun Facts Posted on 2023/04/29 by

There is no “iron pipeline” of guns trafficked from low gun control states to high ones. There is a rust pipeline of legally migrating guns mainly between neighboring states. Take-aways Most crime guns are retailed in the state where they were recovered, including in high gun control states. Most intrastate guns come from neighboring states, including other high gun control states. Most guns legally follow owners when they move between states, which frequently are neighboring states. Approximately 6,000,000 guns at minimum move legally between states each, and of these, 433,000 move between neighboring states Crime guns are largely local One reality is that most crime guns are retailed in the same state where they were recovered. Across all states, 68% of traced guns were retailed in the same state where they were recovered. But there are significant variations. Due to decades of restrictions, Washington, DC (not a state, but worth … Continue reading →

NYT Fiction

Gun Facts Posted on 2015/11/23 by

Main Take-aways The “Iron Pipeline” doesn’t exist. Most guns that move from one state to another do so as part of normal human relocation, not trafficking. The time it takes for a gun to slip into criminal use is so long that the problem is local crime control and not interstate gun control. When it comes to gun control, nobody has ever accused the New York Times of honesty or accuracy. I won’t break their losing streak. In a recent bit of editorial effluvium and journalistic malpractice, the NYT penned perilous prose concerning the mythical “Iron Pipeline” of guns migrating into states with strict gun control from states without. The Gun Facts Project has already run the numbers and shown the Iron Pipeline to be both a con job as well as demonstrating the inverse is actually true. In brief, states with strict gun control laws are more likely to … Continue reading →