He then transferred the roughly 700 guns in his inventory to his personal collection and continued to sell them, according to Dixon's testimony. The privately sold guns, Dixon said, are problematic because they were not subject to federal and state reporting requirements.
"There is no way to hold him accountable for his sales," Dixon writes in her testimony.
Abrams was convicted in late January in a case in which he sold a weapon to a man who died in a shootout with Baltimore County police. The customer had a criminal record, and was therefore prohibited from owning a weapon.
Clifford, Dixon's spokesman, said the mayor is not alleging that Abrams sold weapons after January. But city officials say that the guns Abrams had previously sold are still turning up at crime scenes.
"Having that many is a massive number," said Daniel Vice, senior attorney at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "It shows just how bad this dealer was that even after this dealer was shut down guns are traced to him."
Clare Weber, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that 142 is a "significant" number of guns used in crimes to be traced back to a single store over two years. Citing federal law, she declined to say how that number compares to other area gun stores.
But in January, The Abell Report, a newsletter published by the Abell Foundation, listed the eight Maryland stores responsible for selling the most weapons that are used in city crimes.
That report used a slightly different time frame than Dixon does in her testimony, but it still lists Valley Gun as the top source, with 108 guns linked to city crimes. Next were Clyde's Sport Shop in Lansdowne, with 64 guns linked to city crimes; Northeast Gun & Pawn, with 46 guns linked to city crimes and Baltimore Gunsmith, with 40 guns linked.
Of those stores, only one, Clyde's Sport Shop, still sells weapons. The owner of that store could not be reached for comment.
Last year, 80 percent of the city's homicides were committed with guns, according to Dixon's testimony. Responding to a spike in crimes last year, she started a gun task force within the city's Police Department that targets those who are forbidden to own guns because of felony convictions.
City officials credit that and other law enforcement initiatives with a decline in nonfatal shootings and homicides this year. So far, there have been 54 homicides in the city, down from 76 at this time last year. Nonfatal shootings are also down, with 124 this year compared with 185 at this time last year.
annie.linskey@baltsun.com
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
