That’s only part of the story.
How did the guns get on the street?
The common answer we hear is ‘straw man’ purchases or purchased in an adjoining lax State but I’ll bet at least 75% are stolen. I have no stats to back that up though.
That’d be my guess. That or gangs in the gun-running business with the IRA, Russians, etc.
Many years ago, my Dad had a pistol stolen which he reported to the Police and Insurance. Jump forward 5 years and he gets a call from the local law to tell him that his pistol was recovered after being used in a bank robbery. They wanted $275 from him to returm his gun (more than the original price). He let them “destroy” it instead. Jump forward another 5 years and he gets a call from another law enforcement agency to tell him that his pistol had been recovered after being used in yet anothery crime! Now just how the heck did the pistol that was “destroyed” by the cops get back into circulation??? We never found out!