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The report comes as the nation is still reeling from a mass shooting that left 10 Black people dead in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket last weekend. The suspected gunman legally purchased the Bushmaster rifle used to carry out the shooting with some modifications currently illegal in the state of New York, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.

\"PHOTO:
Handout/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: A handout picture provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the Los Angeles Field Division, April 12, 2022, shows a Complete kit of a ghost gun.
>

The nation's patchwork of gun laws has been largely relaxed by Supreme Court decisions as well as state and federal legislation over the time period studied. Two Supreme Court cases that struck down local gun control ordinances in Chicago and Washington, D.C, paved the way for fewer restrictions on individual firearm purchases.

The report also looked at the more recent adoption of untraceable firearms called \"ghost guns\" -- often assembled from parts bought online or made at a private residence.

\"PHOTO:
Scott Olson/Getty Images
PHOTO: A customer shops for a pistol at Freddie Bear Sports sporting goods store, Dec. 17, 2012, in Tinley Park, Ill.
>

\"One of the most significant developments affecting lawful firearm commerce and law enforcement's ability to reduce illegal access to guns in this period has been the proliferation of privately made firearms also known as “ghost guns,\" the ATF Los Angeles Field Office said in a statement on the report.

The number of firearms recovered by law enforcement believed to be privately made increased 1,000% between 2016 and 2021, according to the report.

The U.S. ranks first in the world for the number of firearms in the hands of civilians, according to a 2018 report by the nonpartisan Small Arms Survey. Yemen, Montenegro, Serbia and Canada round out the top five when adjusted for population size, although all have less than half the number of firearms per capita than the U.S.

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