Arizona Listed as One of the Worst States in US for “Bad Apple” Gun Dealers
Gun dealers can be found almost everywhere in the United States. Most follow the rules. A small minority have been accused of souring the reputation for all.
Arizona has been ranked in the top 10. Unfortunately it isn’t for something where #1 stands for the best. Arizona ranks among the top 10 states for gun dealers that have supplied weapons later involved in crimes. These so called ‘bad apple’ gun dealers are classified as making up roughly 5% of the total dealers but end up supplying roughly 90% of the traceable guns used in crimes throughout the United Stated. One might think that all or most gun dealers end up selling weapons inadvertently that end up being used in a crime. However, the truth is far from that as in a given year roughly 86% of gun dealers do not supply any traceable weapons used in crimes. This suggests that the majority of dealers might be doing something that reduces the chance of weapons they sell from getting into the wrong hands, and conversely that this minority of ‘bad apple’ dealers might be doing something that does allow weapons to get into the wrong hands.
A report put out by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence notes some of the practices that some of these dealers use in selling guns. Many of the practices are actually already illegal. Hence, better enforcement of the current laws might go a long way in reducing the number of weapons sold by gun dealers that end up being used in crimes. Luckily, the stats paint an easy target on those dealers that need the most focus.
Guns in the wrong hands may ultimately end up being used in violent crimes. Unfortunately, just like the ‘bad apple’ gun dealer ranking, Arizona is also among the states with the highest gun death rate. Reducing the number of ‘bad apples’ in the basket might just be the silver bullet.