Recently released data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives revealed that over a five-year period, more than 68,000 illegally trafficked firearms in the U.S. were traced back to unlicensed dealers who are not required to conduct background checks. This accounts for 54% of the illegally trafficked firearms between 2017 and 2021, leading to 368 shooting cases.
ATF Director Steve Dettelbach highlighted the challenges in investigating these cases, as unlicensed dealers do not keep records of their sales, making it difficult for federal agents to trace the weapons back to their original buyers. The report, ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is the first comprehensive analysis of firearm trafficking investigations in over two decades, examining more than 9,700 closed ATF firearm trafficking cases.
