CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines and were used to commit crimes in 2009 were sold in just 10 states, and North Carolina makes the list.
That information comes from a survey that was done by a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an association of more than 500 mayors led by New York's Michael Bloomberg and Boston's Thomas Menino.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traced more than 145,000 guns used in crimes in 2009 and found that 43,000 were sold in other states.
Nearly half of those guns, 49 percent specifically, were sold in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California and Arizona.
In Charlotte, Larry Hyatt's Coin and Gun Shop has been in business for more than 50 years.
"North Carolina, for one, is a very strict gun control state," Hyatt says.
But, he also says there is very little control of what happens to a gun once it leaves a gun store.
"A lot of freedom gives a lot of criminals a lot of room to do bad things," he explains.
Judy Williams, from the group Mothers of Murdered Offspring, doesn’t want North Carolina to be on this top 10 list.
"I think the idea of my home state being known to be a place where people can come and acquire guns so easily, that's not good," she says.
Williams would like to see even tighter controls on the sale of guns.
Larry Hyatt says one reason North Carolina probably made the top 10 is because it already has strict policies on gun sales and permits.
"They are talking about guns that are traceable. There's probably two-thirds of firearms that can't be traced because they were bought in states where there are not good records kept," says Hyatt.
