ATF found thousands of guns recovered in Maryland last year traced back to 49 states.
BALTIMORE (AP) – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has found nearly half of guns traced last year in Maryland were bought locally.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the ATF found thousands of guns recovered in Maryland last year traced back to 49 states.
Police in Maryland asked ATF to trace more than 8,600 firearms last year. Agents were able to determine where nearly 5,900 of the firearms were sold.
About 47 percent of them were bought in Maryland. Virginia ranked second and supplied about 15 percent of the guns. Pennsylvania came third with nearly 7 percent.
The ATF found they were bought an average of 12 years before the crime or reason for the trace. The ATF conducted nearly half a million traces last year for police departments nationwide.