Mayors and gun-safety advocates are increasingly showing their willingness to name and shame gunmakers, according to Axios. In 2021 alone, four manufacturers accounted for over half of the recovered guns used in crimes across 31 cities, says a new Everytown for Gun Safety analysis. “Mayors are on the frontlines of our nation’s gun violence epidemic and that’s why we won’t shy away from naming those who make the guns that are killing our communities,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, a co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors working with Everytown. A group of mayors revealed the top gun manufacturers and other fresh data that they've collected over five years at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Between 2020 and 2021, there was a significant rise in two types of recovered guns: The number of trafficked guns (those bought legally and then sold illegally) increased by nearly 50 percent. The number of recovered ghost guns — which are untraceable, unregistered, and privately assembled via a 3D printer or homemade kit — roughly tripled. More than 25 percent of the traced guns crossed state lines before being used in a crime.
Advocates write in the new report that "if these four manufacturers took action on their own, the national impact [to reduce trafficking] could be substantial." Nick Suplina of Everytown, said that in order to stop gun crimes, “[W]e can’t just focus on the criminals — we also need to shine a light on irresponsible gun makers who are turning a blind eye to their role in fueling America’s gun violence crisis."