Unfortunately, Georgia has long been known as a high volume gun state. Our state's gun industry contributes not only to crime within the state but more than its fair share to crime around the country. Georgians For Gun Safety is committed to changing this culture of violence.

According to research conducted by Americans for Gun Safety in 2003, Georgia ranked 4th in the nation in the number of high-crime gun stores, or those that were responsible for at least 200 crime traces between 1996-2000. Thirteen Georgia gun stores had this ignominious designation, led by the Lakewood Avenue Pawn shop in Atlanta (1025 crime gun traces) and The Firing Pen in East Point (862 crime gun traces). These stores ranked 6th and 7th in the country respectively. The study was compiled using Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) data and information supplied by the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) during their lawsuit against the gun manufacturers. To download the complete study, click here: http://w3.agsfoundation.com/media/ReportSellingCrime.pdf

Another survey by AGS indicated that Georgia ranked 6th among all states in stolen firearms. Between January 1993 and August 2002 - a period covering slightly less than ten years - 96,672 guns were stolen in Georgia. That's 34 guns per 1000 households. On average in the U.S., 16.8 guns were stolen per 1000 households. In New Jersey, a state with roughly the same population as Georgia, only 11,248 guns or 3.8 per 1000 households were stolen. The report pointed to several factors that contributed to a state's firearm theft rate: gun ownership rates, overall crime rates, and the existence of "safe storage" laws (imposing legal liability on gun owners for the misuse of an improperly stored firearm by a minor). Not surprisingly, Georgia ranks high in gun ownership and has no safe storage laws.

Without better laws, better enforcement of existing laws, and concerted local efforts, Georgia will remain among the leading havens for gun traffickers and corrupt gun stores. The right to own a gun includes the responsibility to keep them out of the hands of criminals and traffickers. Right now, Georgia is among a select number of states that fail the responsibility test.

As a state, Georgia was among the leading exporters of crime guns to other states for each of four years between 1996 and 1999. Georgia ranks first, second or third in supplying crime guns to criminals in 10 states - including states as far away as Massachusetts, New York and Michigan.