In the United States, gun ownership is a constitutional right, one that nearly a third of all American adults choose to exercise. But while most of the nearly 400 million civilian-owned firearms in the U.S. belong to law-abiding citizens, some inevitably end up in the wrong hands.
Many states, primarily in the Northeast and along the West Coast, have strict gun regulations designed, in part, to make it harder for criminals to obtain a firearm. Gun control laws in these places are by no means perfect, and in many cases, legally-purchased firearms end up being used to commit crimes. It is also common for criminals to circumvent legal channels to gun ownership all together and trade guns in the black market. (These are the firearm calibers used the most to commit crimes in the U.S.)
Every year, thousands of firearms are purchased in places with relatively lax gun restrictions, moved across state borders and redistributed before they ultimately wind up at a crime scene. According to the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, more than 97,000 firearms that were linked to crimes in 2021 were sourced out of state. The ATF identified the specific origin of about 80,000 of those guns – and the data shows that a handful of states are disproportionately driving America’s gun trafficking problem.
Using 2021 ATF gun tracing data, 24/7 Wall St. identified the states where the most trafficked guns come from. States are ranked by the number of firearms purchased there that were traced by the ATF and linked to crimes in other states.
The top 16 feeder states on this list account for nearly 77% of all guns that were linked to an out-of-state crime scene in 2021. With only a few exceptions, the states on this list have relatively limited control laws in place.
Often, guns purchased in these places end up being used in a crime in a bordering state, though this is not always the case. New York, for example, has some of the tightest gun control policies in the country – and it also ranks among the top three destinations for guns purchased from six states on this list, none of which share a border with it. California, a state recognized for its stringent gun control laws, is also among the top three destinations for firearms from six states on this list, and only two of them are bordering it. (Here is a look at the states where gun crimes are surging.)
Click here to see where trafficked guns used to commit crimes come from.
Click here to see our detailed methodology.
16. Pennsylvania
> Guns from Pennsylvania traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,352 (3.0% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Pennsylvania are linked to crime: New York (bordering state), 525
> State where the 2nd most guns from Pennsylvania are linked to crime: New Jersey (bordering state), 496
> State where the 3rd most guns from Pennsylvania are linked to crime: Maryland (bordering state), 325
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15. Nevada
> Guns from Nevada traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,494 (3.1% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Nevada are linked to crime: California (bordering state), 2,275
> State where the 2nd most guns from Nevada are linked to crime: Arizona (bordering state), 57
> State where the 3rd most guns from Nevada are linked to crime: Utah (bordering state), 49
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14. Missouri
> Guns from Missouri traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,521 (3.2% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Missouri are linked to crime: Illinois (bordering state), 867
> State where the 2nd most guns from Missouri are linked to crime: Kansas (bordering state), 469
> State where the 3rd most guns from Missouri are linked to crime: California, 241
13. Kentucky
> Guns from Kentucky traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,583 (3.2% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Kentucky are linked to crime: Ohio (bordering state), 537
> State where the 2nd most guns from Kentucky are linked to crime: Illinois (bordering state), 480
> State where the 3rd most guns from Kentucky are linked to crime: Tennessee (bordering state), 268
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12. Ohio
> Guns from Ohio traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,840 (3.6% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Ohio are linked to crime: New York, 398
> State where the 2nd most guns from Ohio are linked to crime: Michigan (bordering state), 355
> State where the 3rd most guns from Ohio are linked to crime: Pennsylvania (bordering state), 261
11. Alabama
> Guns from Alabama traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,853 (3.6% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Alabama are linked to crime: Georgia (bordering state), 502
> State where the 2nd most guns from Alabama are linked to crime: Florida (bordering state), 501
> State where the 3rd most guns from Alabama are linked to crime: Tennessee (bordering state), 254
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10. Tennessee
> Guns from Tennessee traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 2,946 (3.7% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Tennessee are linked to crime: Illinois, 324
> State where the 2nd most guns from Tennessee are linked to crime: Georgia (bordering state), 262
> State where the 3rd most guns from Tennessee are linked to crime: Florida, 232
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9. Mississippi
> Guns from Mississippi traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 3,106 (3.9% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Mississippi are linked to crime: Tennessee (bordering state), 1,039
> State where the 2nd most guns from Mississippi are linked to crime: Illinois, 395
> State where the 3rd most guns from Mississippi are linked to crime: Texas, 386
8. North Carolina
> Guns from North Carolina traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 3,107 (3.9% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from North Carolina are linked to crime: South Carolina (bordering state), 510
> State where the 2nd most guns from North Carolina are linked to crime: New York, 498
> State where the 3rd most guns from North Carolina are linked to crime: Maryland, 288
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7. South Carolina
> Guns from South Carolina traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 3,683 (4.6% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from South Carolina are linked to crime: North Carolina (bordering state), 1,223
> State where the 2nd most guns from South Carolina are linked to crime: New York, 617
> State where the 3rd most guns from South Carolina are linked to crime: Georgia (bordering state), 426
6. Virginia
> Guns from Virginia traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 3,909 (4.9% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Virginia are linked to crime: Maryland (bordering state), 1,128
> State where the 2nd most guns from Virginia are linked to crime: North Carolina (bordering state), 703
> State where the 3rd most guns from Virginia are linked to crime: New York, 622
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5. Indiana
> Guns from Indiana traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 4,135 (5.2% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Indiana are linked to crime: Illinois (bordering state), 2,601
> State where the 2nd most guns from Indiana are linked to crime: Kentucky (bordering state), 270
> State where the 3rd most guns from Indiana are linked to crime: Ohio (bordering state), 234
4. Florida
> Guns from Florida traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 4,794 (6.0% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Florida are linked to crime: Georgia (bordering state), 526
> State where the 2nd most guns from Florida are linked to crime: New York, 484
> State where the 3rd most guns from Florida are linked to crime: California, 383
3. Arizona
> Guns from Arizona traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 5,835 (7.3% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Arizona are linked to crime: California (bordering state), 4,725
> State where the 2nd most guns from Arizona are linked to crime: Nevada (bordering state), 296
> State where the 3rd most guns from Arizona are linked to crime: Texas, 169
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2. Texas
> Guns from Texas traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 6,460 (8.1% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Texas are linked to crime: California, 1,653
> State where the 2nd most guns from Texas are linked to crime: Louisiana (bordering state), 724
> State where the 3rd most guns from Texas are linked to crime: Florida, 392
1. Georgia
> Guns from Georgia traced to out-of-state crimes, 2021: 7,527 (9.5% of all guns used in out-of-state crimes)
> State where the most guns from Georgia are linked to crime: Florida (bordering state), 1,154
> State where the 2nd most guns from Georgia are linked to crime: New York, 981
> State where the 3rd most guns from Georgia are linked to crime: California, 565
Methodology
To identify the states where the most trafficked guns come from, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2021 firearm tracing data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. States are ranked by the number of guns that were sold there that ended up being linked to a crime in a different state.
Specifically, we reviewed the top 16 source states for firearms linked to crimes in all 50 states. In some cases, more than the top 16 source states were considered due to ties. We then summed all the firearms connected to out-of-state crimes for each source state.
For each state on this list, we also calculated the share of all guns used in out-of-state crimes that were first purchased in the state in question. Total guns used in out-of-state crimes only include those that the ATF lists listed along with a source state, which in most cases, is one of the top 16 source states. The source states with firearm counts account for over 80% of all firearms used for a crime out of state.
Guns that are traced by the ATF are typically those found at crime scenes. These guns have either been used, or are suspected to have been used, to commit a crime. Though not all firearms used in a crime are traced.
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