US firearm manufacture rising

WASHINGTON (Transatlantic Today) – According to a recent research by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Weapons, and Explosives, the manufacturing of firearms in the United States has increased enormously in the past few decades, with domestic production more than nearly doubling and imports more than quadrupling. 

The surge was fueled by the tremendous expansion of the handgun as one of the most prevalent weapon types and a 24,080% increase in manufacture of short-barreled rifles between 2000 to 2020, according to the ATF study. The number of firearms produced in the United States increased by 187 percent during that time period, but the number of firearms imported increased by 350%.

The reports come as the nation seeks to recover from a horrendous shooting last weekend in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that killed 10 Black people. According to individuals familiar with the investigation, the suspected gunman legally obtained the Bushmaster rifle used in the incident, along with several modifications that are now illegal in New York.

Supreme Court decisions, as well as federal and state laws, have relaxed the country’s patchwork of firearms restrictions over the course of the study. The Supreme Court struck down local gun regulations in Chicago and Washington, D.C., allowing for looser restrictions on individual firearm purchases.

The research also examined the growing use of untraceable handguns known as “ghost guns,” which are often fabricated from parts purchased online or fashioned at a private home, according to ABC NEWS.

The expansion of privately made weapons, also known as “ghost guns,” has been one of the most substantial advancements influencing legal firearm business and trade as well as law enforcement agencies’ power to reduce illegal access to firearms during this time, according to the ATF Los Angeles Field Office’s report. 

According to the study, between 2016 and 2021, the number of firearms seized by law enforcement agencies which were suspected of being privately made surged by 1,000%. 

The United States has the most firearms in private ownership in the world, as per a 2018 report by the nonpartisan Small Arms Survey. Despite having less than half the amount of firearms per capita as the United States, Canada, Montenegro, Yemen, and Serbia round out the top 5 when population density is taken into account.