Stjudy: Lawful gun owners accounted for18% of gun violence in Pittsburgh

Intellectual Takeout -Lawful gun owners accounted for just 18 percent of gun violence, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

Researchers analyzed 762 cases in which a gun was recovered by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Firearm Tracking Unit .

“Most perpetrators (79%) were carrying a gun that did not belong to them,” researchers concluded.

The evidence, the Washington Post says, confirms a fact gun rights advocates have been arguing for many years.

The top-line finding of the study — that the overwhelming majority of gun crimes aren't committed by lawful gun owners — reinforces a common refrain among gun rights advocacy groups. They argue that since criminals don't follow laws, new regulations on gun ownership would only serve to burden lawful owners while doing little to combat crime.

Anthony Fabio, an epidemiologist who led the study, told the Post that all guns start out as legally purchased weapons but “huge number of them” fall into the hands of unlawful owners.