The 26-year-old suspect in a string of shootings in Seattle allegedly used the same stolen handgun in all of those incidents, and he is a four-time convicted felon legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, according to KOMO News, the local ABC News affiliate.
In a city which boasts of its liberal politics and is home to Washington’s billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobbying group, this report will offer fresh ammunition to Second Amendment advocates as proof the state’s increasingly strict gun laws are ineffective.
According to Seattle Police Blotter reports, stolen guns have been turning up frequently over the past year.
However, gun control isn’t high on a list of legislative priorities among respondents to a KOMO online listener/reader poll which asked which of four subjects are the “most important issues facing the legislature.” According to the responses, those issues are:
REPEAT OFFENDERS 77%
DRUG TRADE 12%
STOLEN CARS (used in crimes) 5%
GUN CONTROL 5%
The unidentified suspect reportedly has convictions for assault and robbery (two each) since 2015.
KOMO is reporting the suspect’s gun was linked to nine separate shootings since Oct. 6. When police stopped him, he reportedly was armed with two handguns, which he could not legally have because of his criminal record.
Various sources said the largest single source of stolen firearms is from vehicles. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the Michael Bloomberg-backed gun prohibition lobbying group:
- Memphis, Tennessee—the city with the highest rate of guns stolen from cars—had over 3,000 gun thefts from vehicles in 2022. A range of cities in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, reported zero gun thefts from cars.
- On average, at least one gun is stolen from a car every nine minutes in the United States.
- The rate of gun thefts from cars is triple what it was a decade ago. This includes both consistent increases nearly every year over the decade and a marked spike during the pandemic.
- A decade ago, roughly a quarter of gun thefts were from cars; in 2022, over half were.
- Cars parked at residences (in driveways, outside homes, etc.) are the most common source of stolen guns, demonstrating the importance of securely storing guns at all times and locations.
Charges were expected to be filed shortly against the suspect in Seattle. He was being held in the King County Jail.
According to an August report at Legal Reader, only about 10 percent of stolen guns are used in crimes in any given year.
“Despite rhetoric about gun shows, firearms purchased from gun shows are the least likely to be used in crimes (0.8%), and those purchased from an FFL dealer by the offender are used in only 1.3% of crimes,” Legal Reader said.
