One gun store in Gary, Indiana has been identified as the sales point for more than 850 guns found at crime scenes in Chicago, just 30 miles north, according to a lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago, USA Today reports.

Westforth Sports, Inc. has “engaged in a pattern of illegal sales that has resulted in the flow of hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal firearms into the City of Chicago,” according to the lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Indiana has more lax gun sales laws than Chicago or the state of Illinois, so people seeking to purchase guns find it easier to go to Indiana to purchase weapons.  Gary has become a mini-mecca for gun buyers, with a number of gun shops in the town, a point that gun control advocates point to a flaw in local gun laws.

“I’ve worked tirelessly to reduce violence to keep our streets safe,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement Monday. “Time and time again, however, it has become even more clear that holding accountable all those who contribute to gun violence here, regardless of where they are located, is key to our ability to create a safer Chicago.”

The lawsuit, filed by litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and the law firm Mayer Brown LLP, alleges Westforth Sports “feeds the market for illegal firearms by knowingly selling its products to an ever-changing roster of gun traffickers and straw (sham) purchasers who transport Westforth’s guns from Indiana into Chicago, where they are resold to individuals who cannot legally possess firearms, including convicted felons and drug traffickers.”

Federal records indicate that 44% of criminal cases filed in the Northern District of Indiana involving illegal gun sales from December 2014 to April 2021 stemmed involved sales at Westforth Sports.  The lawsuit states that the store has sold 180 weapons to 40 people later charged with federal crimes related to illegal gun sales.

A 2017 study found that more than a quarter of the guns used in crimes in Chicago were traced to just ten gun stores located in Indiana or Illinois suburbs.