Police Chief Johnson’s Testimony “40% Bypass Background Checks” Is False

 

 

 

” Testimony from Baltimore Baltimore County, Md., Police Chief James Johnson:

“From November 2011 to November 2012, an estimated 6.6 million firearm transactions occurred
without a background check. Up to 40 percent of firearm transactions occur through private
individuals rather than licensed gun dealers. Allowing 40 percent of those acquiring guns to
bypass background checks is like allowing 40 percent of airline passengers to board a plane
without going through airport security.”

 

As with many “facts” offered by gun grabbers, however, this one’s not only misleading, it’s based on a suspect source.

Advocates for gun restrictions toss around statistics like they’re magic talismans which confer instant credibility in any debate. The favored source for factoids on gun purchases – including the proportion of transactions subject to background checks – is the National Institute of Justice report, “Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms.” Published in 1997, the report is based on an even-older piece of research, the “National Study of Private Ownership of Firearms in the United States,” a survey sponsored by the Police Foundation in 1994.

You read that correctly: this is research that is two decades old.”

Related articles