Following the Gun: Enforcing Federal Laws against Firearms Traffickers

摘要

Most criminals obtain their guns from the illegal market supplied by a variety ofsources; unlicensed sellers who buy guns with the purpose of reselling them; fences; corrupt Federal firearms licensees (FFLs); and straw purchasers who buy guns for other unlicensed sellers, criminal users, and juveniles. It is the responsibility of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), often working together with State and local law enforcement agencies, to investigate this criminal trafficking in firearms, arrest the perpetrators, and refer them to U.S. Attorneys for prosecution. To report on the problem and the Federal enforcement response to it, ATF documented and analyzed the criminal investigations involving firearms traffickers that it initiated from July 1996 throught December 1998, from commencement of the investigation to sentencing by a court. This review builds on an earlier examination of the illegal acquisition of firearms by youth and juveniles, prepared in response to a request by Congress. The information for both reports derived from surveys of the ATF special agents responsible for the investigations.