Last year, 210 people were shot in Delaware, 43 of them fatally. But where do these guns — and the firearms used in other crimes — come from?
A USA TODAY investigation found that more than 1,300 stores nationwide were tracked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2023 for their sale of guns that were used in crimes.
Five Delaware gun stores made the list: Miller’s Gun Center and First State Firearms and Accessories, both near New Castle; StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Talleyville; and Shooter’s Choice and The Trading Post, both in Dover.
None of the five gun stores responded to requests for comment.
DATABASE:Tracking gun violence in Delaware
Each of these stores sold at least 25 guns in the past three years that were traced to a crime in 2023, according to the ATF. Local police agencies said they did not know the exact number of guns involved in crimes that were sold at the five stores.
The difference between the date of a gun’s purchase and its use in a crime is known by the agency as “time to crime,” with a shorter length typically indicating illegal gun trafficking. Of those guns purchased in Delaware recovered by ATF in 2022, the average time to crime was 6.19 years. That same year, the national time to crime average was 6.34 years.