NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mayor John Cooper of Nashville, TN and 30 other members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a nonpartisan coalition of current and former mayors that is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, recently released new data about the manufacturers of recovered crime guns in their cities. According to the data provided by the city, Glock is the top manufacturer of crime guns recovered in Nashville. In 2021, four gun manufacturers accounted for over half of the recovered crime guns: Glock (21.1%), Smith & Wesson (13.5%), Taurus (13.0%), and Ruger (7.0%). A full list of cities that participated in the report is available below.
“Gun manufacturers should be as interested in safe storage and ensuring guns don’t end up in the wrong hands as they are in producing and profiting off the deadly weapons they sell,” said Mayor John Cooper. “I’m grateful for Everytown’s work shining a light on this important topic. Metro Nashville has invested significant resources into investigating gun crimes and working with dozens of nonprofit organizations to address the root causes of community violence — so we might prevent these tragedies from happening in the first place. I’m particularly proud that MNPD Chief Drake and his team are taking on the crisis of stolen guns in vehicles and working hand in hand with community leaders to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.”
“To stop gun crime, we 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,” said Nick Suplina, Senior Vice President of Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. “I applaud Mayor Cooper for having the guts to stand up to the gun lobby, and hold accountable companies that are putting profit ahead of public safety.”
The report found that according to data provided by the participating cities, on average, more than 1.5 times more Glocks were recovered than the second-leading manufacturer across the collected data. Making the public aware of which companies are responsible for an often disproportionate share of the firearms that end up in crime scenes is a key part in holding the firearms industry accountable. Additionally, the data shows that recoveries of ghost guns nearly tripled from 2020 to 2021 and Polymer80, the largest producer of ghost gun parts and kits, was the fifth-largest producer of crime guns in the cities surveyed in 2021
There are several steps gun manufacturers could take to prevent diversion of their products to the criminal market. These include establishing a dealer code of conduct to ensure that retailers who sell their firearms adhere to basic guidelines, better monitoring their supply chains to detect dealers breaking the law, and stopping all work with dealers who sell guns in situations where someone may be able to avoid a background check, including gun shows and online marketplaces.
Click here to read the new data analysis released today, including breakdowns by city.
The full list of the cities participating in this data analysis is below, with the bolded cities indicating those joining for the first time.
Allentown, PA
Baltimore, MD
Buffalo, NY
Cambridge, MA
Chattanooga, TN
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Dayton, OH
Evanston, IL
Kansas City, MO
Little Rock, AR
Los Angeles, CA
Louisville, KY
Madison, WI
Miami-Dade, FL
Miramar, FL
Montgomery, AL
Mount Vernon, NY
Nashville, TN
New York, NY
Newark, NJ
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Rockville, MD
San Leandro, CA
San Rafael, CA
Savannah, GA
St. Louis, MO
Syracuse, NY
Tampa, FL
Washington, DC
