Baltimore's Underground Gun Market: Availability of and Access to Guns

Abstract

Underground gun markets can create opportunities for individuals who are prohibited from gun ownership to gain access to guns. Understanding how these individuals obtain guns, and their unsuccessful attempts to get guns, is key to developing interventions that effectively restrict the supply of guns in an underground market. We conducted surveys of criminal justice-involved men (n = 195) in Baltimore City about their experiences in the underground gun market, of whom 30% reported having any experience in the underground gun market. More than half of these individuals were unsuccessful in their most recent attempt to obtain a firearm due to cost-or source-related barriers. Over 80% of individuals who did not already have access to a gun but wanted one (31/38) reported wanting to acquire one for safety or protection. Thirty-one percent (18/58) reported there were certain gun shop employees who sell guns off the record or make sales to obvious straw purchasers. Most respondents who had access to firearms had handguns (90%). Individuals reported selling or trading a gun (n = 35) for money (69%), drugs (46%), or other guns (23%), or accepting guns as payment for drugs. Although an underground market can facilitate access to firearms, barriers exist that can prevent acquisition by high-risk individuals. Efforts should focus on strategies that increase accountability and restrict the supply of guns in an underground market or those that provide alternatives to gun carrying to feel safe.

Economics and Public Health: Two Perspectives on Firearm Injury Prevention

“…In the study, forty of the forty-eight primary firearms referenced had been obtained from family members, fellow gang members, or other social connections (Cook, Parker, and Pollack 2015). Baltimore parolees reported similar patterns in 2020; among offenders reporting efforts to obtain firearms in the previous six months, 53 percent reported encountering difficulties (Crifasi et al 2020). Increased efforts to disrupt these local networks are essential to adding friction to the supply of firearms in underground markets.…”

“…The resulting patchwork of federal, state, and local regulations is fertile ground for a thriving national underground firearm market, which supplies most firearms used in interpersonal crimes (Braga et al 2012(Braga et al , 2021Cook, Parker, and Pollack 2015;Hasegawa, Webster, and Small 2019;Webster and Wintemute 2015). Like other markets, the underground firearm trade responds to supply-and demand-side pressures and shocks, as well as incentives and constraints (Braga et al 2021;Cook, Parker, and Pollack 2015;Cook, Pollack, and White 2019;Crifasi et al 2020).…”

“…Survey data suggest that criminal offenders know specific firearm retailers as illegal firearms sources. Thirty-one percent of male Baltimore City parolees and probationers surveyed by Crifasi et al (2020) reported knowing certain gun shop employees “sell guns off the record or make sales to obvious straw purchasers.” Twenty-four percent of the respondents reported knowing some Maryland gun shops where one could obtain firearms without a background check; 16 percent reported knowing shops from which firearms could be easily stolen (Crifasi et al 2020). Other available data confirm that certain licensed firearm retailers are responsible for disproportionate amounts of firearms linked to crime (Braga et al 2012).…”

Licensed firearm dealers, legal compliance, and local homicide: A case study

“…Furthermore, some federally licensed firearm (FFL) dealers may be directly involved in the supply of guns to prohibited purchasers. Evidence suggests that certain gun shop employees may sell guns off the record or make sales to known straw purchasers (Crifasi et al., 2020). In a survey of criminal justice‐involved men in Baltimore, 31% of those who were active in the underground gun market said that they knew of gun shops where employees sold guns off the books or did not require background checks (Crifasi et al., 2020).…”

“…Evidence suggests that certain gun shop employees may sell guns off the record or make sales to known straw purchasers (Crifasi et al., 2020). In a survey of criminal justice‐involved men in Baltimore, 31% of those who were active in the underground gun market said that they knew of gun shops where employees sold guns off the books or did not require background checks (Crifasi et al., 2020). Other studies of handgun dealers have revealed some willingness to assist potential handgun buyers with a “straw” purchase or purchases employees understood to be against the law (Sorenson & Vittes, 2003), particularly among pawnbrokers (Wintemute, 2010).…”