What also stood out, says McCrary, was the lack of security at the Lorcin plant. To be able to do so at a gun manufacturer, well, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
Research suggests about half a million firearms are stolen a year.
While that pales in comparison with the 192 million privately owned guns nationwide, stolen guns by definition pass into the hands of criminals and are more likely to be used in the commission of another crime. Surveys show that somewhere between 10 and 32 percent of the guns used in crime were obtained directly through theft, while an approximately equal number of other guns used in crime were stolen somewhere along the line. In comparison, weapons bought at legitimate retail dealers account for somewhere between 17 and 27 percent of the guns used in crime. It is those acquisitions that measures like the Brady law are designed to curb. As many as 14,000 guns may be missing from Lorcin, according to an investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting documented this week on PBS's Frontline .