Research Shows Women are Primary Perpetrators of Illegal Gun Purchases in the United States

By Beth Baumann

Recent studies have found that women are more likely than men to be perpetrators of illegal gun sales, more commonly referred to as straw purchases. A study by the Journal of Urban Health found that women are disproportionately involved in the sale of guns that end up in the hands of criminals. Another study, completed by the Criminal Justice Policy Review, found that minority women purchase the majority of guns that were bought and quickly utilized to carry out a crime.

A new organization, known as Operation L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K. (Ladies Involved In Putting a Stop to Inner-City Killing), is working with women to learn to say “no” to men who want to use them for straw purchases.

“LIPSTICK is women talking to women about the risks of straw purchasing—in beauty shops, churches, schools, domestic violence and homeless shelters in communities devastated by gun violence,” the organization says in a pamphlet.

According to Operation L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K.’s executive director, Nancy Robinson, while men are the ones pulling the trigger, women are the ones supplying the guns.

“We tried to expand the thinking beyond just locking [the shooter] up, to ‘How did he get that gun in the first place?’” she explained. …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms