The results suggest interesting dynamics surrounding guns and offending. Unexpectedly, the findings show that guns were rarely used in the drug offenses. The findings also show that guns are primarily used by younger offenders involved in violent offenses and that a significant number of the gun users came from another community/legal jurisdiction. Implications of these results are presented and discussed. Laws that penalize criminals for gun use have been well received by both gun ownership proponents and gun control advocates. However, it is not entirely clear whether a statewide policy targeting specific types of offenders will successfully reduce gun crime. Determining whether offense-based gun laws reflect the dynamics of gun violence is important because the effectiveness of such laws is tied to the dynamics of gun use by offenders. This study considered the following questions in an attempt to address these issues: (1) what are the demographic characteristics of gun offenders; (2) are gun offenders more likely to come from certain neighborhoods; (3) are offenders more likely to use guns in violent offenses as opposed to drug offenses; and (4) do interactions between the demographic and offense type variables predict gun use. For a statewide policy, such as Virginia Exile to be effective, the policy should reflect the dynamics of gun use by offenders. Tables, references