Maryland's Missing Guns

The Washington Post reports on a case of missing guns which took place in Prince George county Maryland.

More than 20 guns seized by a state-run firearms task force in Prince George's County are unaccounted for, and investigators believe that one of the weapons was used in the shooting of an off-duty police officer late last year, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

All the missing guns apparently had been seized by the Prince George's narcotics detective who was assigned to the task force, the sources said. The detective, Juan Carter, was suspended late last year during the investigation but has not been charged with any crimes, sources said.

I just read in another article the reason the one-gun-a-month law in Virginia makes no sense is because the black market street price for guns is lower than the retail price. I suppose this is an attempt to say there are no straw purchasers at all since they wouldn't be able to sell the expensive guns.

The obvious fact is, stolen guns like these from Maryland can sell for much less than retail price, while guns bought one at a time through straw purchasers would fetch a higher than retail price. There's a market for both.

What's your opinion? Which do you think accounts for more, stolen guns or straw-bought ones?

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