HUNTINGTON -- West Virginia exported guns across state lines at a higher rate, per capita, in 2008 than all but one state in the nation, according to an analysis of federal data by the Brady Center.

The gun-control advocacy campaign based its findings upon gun trace data released Monday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The ATF report states at least 805 guns purchased in West Virginia were recovered through law enforcement investigations in other states. That number was up from 748 in 2007.

The Brady Center used those numbers to rank each state's rate of crime gun exports per capita. Mississippi finished at the top of the list, followed by West Virginia, Alabama, Virginia and South Carolina.

West Virginia ranked number one per capita in 2007, according to analysis from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, another gun-control group.

The Brady Center released its most recent findings via press release Wednesday. The center believes its analysis shows states with weak gun laws supply guns to out-of-state criminals at a rate more than five times higher than other dealers.

"States with strong gun laws protect their communities by making it more difficult for criminals to get firearms," Brady Center President Paul Helmke said in the prepared release. "States with weak gun laws are the top suppliers of the illegal gun market nationwide, making it too easy for dangerous people to get deadly weapons."

Gun-rights supporters say they believe new laws infringe upon the rights of the innocent and do little to reduce crime because criminals find other ways to obtain weapons.

Brady's chief opponent, the National Rifle Association, has pointed to the large number of violent crime in states where tougher gun laws exist, such as California, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

West Virginia finished outside of the top five states when Brady analyzed the highest total number of crime gun exports without adjusting for population. That analysis found Georgia at number one, Florida was second, followed by Virginia, Texas and Indiana.

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