The top 10 guns used in crimes in the U.S. in 2000, according to an unpublished study by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and obtained exclusively by TIME:

Weapon Tony's Snide Remarks 1. Smith and Wesson .38 revolver Nice weapon, but most of the ones used were probably cheap small-frame cheapos bought at a pawn shop. 2. Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic The least expensive pro/sumer-grade 9mm on the market. 3. Lorcin Engineering .380 semiautomatic An absolute piece of crap that sells for less than $120 retail. No real shooter would even warrant this "gun" as a legitimate target to even shoot at. 4. Raven Arms .25 semiautomatic Another piece of shit that sells for less than $110 retail, and is worth less than the pipsqueak ammunition you can try to feed it. 5. Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun One of the less expensive shotguns on the market, although they have come up substantially in quality in recent years. 6. Smith and Wesson 9mm semiautomatic A surprise, because these are generally fairly spendy pistols, in the $400 to $700 range. Nice weapons, overall. 7. Smith and Wesson .357 revolver A tried and trued classic. I would never dare disparage this weapon. They must represent the true professionals of crime in this context. 8. Bryco Arms 9mm semiautomatic Worse than a brass knuckle used by a no-armed retarded man, these ill-fitted pieces of crap were stretching the truth when they were marketed as actual "firearms". 9. Bryco Arms .380 semiautomatic Even worse than a brass knuckle on a no-armed retarded man, these ill-fitted pieces of crap were stretching the truth when they were marketed as "firearms". Especially insipid as a "weapon" in a small caliber. 10. Davis Industries .380 semiautomatic This one takes the cake as the "most prone to never fire, ever" firearm that was ever produced. Apparently they had a street price of $60 in Miami at one point, which would have been better spent on a wristrocket or a billyclub if you planned to actually use one in a legitimate crime. They eventually had to fight lawsuits from prosecutors and criminals at the same time because of their inherent defectiveness. Note that there are no Glock, Sig, HK, Springfield, Colt or high-end Smith & Wesson firearms on this list. Some of the above mentioned "guns" were in fact made on Chinese-manufactured WW2-era casting machines out of warehouses in Miami and Los Angeles so they could be sold on the street for the price of 5 rocks of crack cocaine. The worst offenders, Davis, Lorcin and Raven Arms, have all been sued into bankruptcy as far as I know. As well they should be . The list is derived from the center's investigations of 88,570 guns recovered from crime scenes in 46 cities in 2000, is being analyzed for ATF's youth gun crime interdiction initiative, which helps local police forces understand and counter gun trafficking to youth in their jurisdictions. One measure by which ATF gauges a gun's appeal as an offensive (rather than a defensive or sporting) weapon is its "time-to-crime" factor — how long after its sale it is used in a crime. Revolvers, not generally used as an offensive weapon, had a median time-to-crime of 12.3 years, according to the 2000 figures. At the other extreme, Bryco Arms 9mm semiautomatics recovered from kids younger than 18 had a median time-to-crime of 1.5 years, and those recovered from suspects aged 18 to 24 had a median time-to-crime of 1.1 years. The Hi Point 9mm is another downscale semiautomatic frequently seized from suspects in the 18-to-24 age range; it has a time-to-crime span of just one year. Speaking of Hi-Point, they are producing things called firearms but are in fact nothing less than ill-designed clubs with handles. Though most teenage gangbangers wouldn't be caught dead with a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver, an old fashioned six shooter, it nonetheless claims the lead on the top ten list. That's because there are literally millions in existence; Smith and Wesson introduced the .38 in 1899, and since then, models have proliferated, transforming the name "Smith and Wesson .38" into a generic label for a particular style of gun, even clones that aren't made by Smith and Wesson. Similarly, the Smith and Wesson .357 revolver, which was introduced in 1935, and the venerable Mossberg shotgun made the list based on the sheer volume in circulation. But street criminals are interested almost exclusively in semiautomatics, preferring their superior firepower. (Semiautomatics hold at least seven and often as many as ten or twelve rounds of ammunition. --Or 18 if you can spend the extra dinero made from a 7-11 heist on a Beretta) Gun traffickers like to peddle cheap semiautomatics to teenagers because they can tack on a hefty mark-up (of ten bucks) and still offer a weapon that costs less than an upscale gun like a Ruger or Smith and Wesson semiautomatic. That's why inexpensive semiautomatics dominate the top ten list. As it happens, many of the companies on that list have links to George Jennings, founder of the now-defunct Raven Arms and his clan. Jennings' son Bruce founded Bryco in 1992. According to the ATF, Jennings' son-in-law Jim Davis founded Davis Industries, and Lorcin Engineering was launched by Jim Waldorf, Bruce Jennings' high school friend. These companies and several others also linked to Jennings are known in the trade as the "ring of fire." While Bryco has recently slowed its production and has stopped making several models, according to ATF and other industry sources, gun dealers still have plenty of its firearms in inventory. That's why Bryco holds down two spots on the tracing center's "Top Ten Crime Guns" list for 2000. Experts at the ATF's National Firearms Tracing Center in Falling Water, W.Va., believe that the demand for Bryco wares is driven by teenagers and young adults who like the guns' menacing looks, ample 10-round magazines and rock-bottom prices. Bryco semiautomatics, which can be had in matte black or shiny nickel finish, retail for less than $100 new, and for as little as $55 used. By contrast, Ruger 9mm's are more reliable, higher quality weapons. It can be difficult for first time buyers to choose a handgun for self-defense. The Glock 19 is a popular choice and fortunately the Glock 19 price is affordable for most prospective owners.