In Kansas City over the last three years, police have taken 1,107 stolen gun reports, an average of one a day, says the Kansas City Star. While the number has been declining, from 436 in 2012 to 350 the next year and 321 in 2014, it doesn't include all thefts. “The gun is the tool,” said Eric Immesberger, an federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent. “If you're an armed robbery crew, your tool is a firearm. If you're a drug trafficking organization, firearms are welded to the hip. So how did they come to get those guns? That's huge. We want to destroy that.”
Guns are stolen from homes and stolen from cars. They're bought on the black market from felons or corrupt collectors who ask no questions. They're obtained using “straw buyers” who legally buy firearms and then illegally sell them to others. They are traded for drugs. They are stolen, through burglaries and robberies, from pawnshops and gun retailers. “I would say pretty much every day someone is stealing a gun,” said Paul Hamilton, head of the Kansas City police gun squad. Exactly how many firearms are lost or stolen each year in the U.S. is impossible to know, as the vast majority of personal firearms are not registered and losses and thefts often go unreported. The ATF in 2013 tried to find out how many guns are lost or stolen each year and conceded, “the problem is difficult to quantify.”