Report Lost And Stolen Guns - Everytown

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Open Menu Join Take Action Report Lost and Stolen Guns

What does it solve?

Hundreds of thousands of guns are lost or stolen from private gun owners, gun dealers, or shipping companies every year.1ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download. Requiring that lost and stolen guns be reported to law enforcement deters illegal gun trafficking. The reporting of these guns allows the police to respond more quickly to gun thefts and helps them identify tracking patterns.

Stolen guns are often diverted into an underground market where people with dangerous histories are able to easily obtain firearms.1Philip J. Cook, “Gun Markets,” Annual Review of Criminology 1 (2018): 359–77, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092149; ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download. Lost and stolen guns have been recovered at the scenes of violent crimes,2Brian Freskos, “Missing Pieces: Gun Theft From Legal Gun Owners is on the Rise, Quietly Fueling Violent Crime,” The Trace, November 20, 2017, https://www.thetrace.org/2017/11/stolen-guns-violent-crime-america/. shootings on school grounds, and unintentional shootings by children. Policymakers should pass laws requiring gun owners to report guns that have been lost or stolen to law enforcement to help prevent illegal gun trafficking and gun violence.

Which states require reporting of lost and stolen guns?

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Myth & Fact

Myth

Lost and stolen reporting laws only re-victimize and penalize gun owners when the focus should be on criminals.

Fact

Most lost and stolen reporting laws only have consequences to gun owners who fail to alert law enforcement when their guns are lost or stolen. Lost and stolen reporting laws are associated with a 30 percent lower risk that guns would be purchased in that state and recovered after a crime in another state.1Daniel W. Webster et al., “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013): 109–21, https://bit.ly/3Ic334l.

How it works

Reporting lost or stolen guns may reduce underground gun sales and illegal gun trafficking.

Gun Thefts from Cars: The Largest Source of Stolen Guns Report

Federal law requires firearm dealers to report firearms that are lost or stolen from their inventory to local authorities and to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).118 U.S.C. 923(g)(6); 27 CFR 478.39a and 479.141; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, “Report Firearms Theft or Loss: Reporting for Federal Firearms Licensees,” September 23, 2022, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/report-firearms-theft-or-loss. Although more than 95 percent of stolen guns come from thefts from private gun owners,2ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download. with the exception of weapons registered under the National Firearms Act, federal law does not require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement.

Laws requiring that lost and stolen guns be reported to law enforcement are associated with significant reductions in gun trafficking. One study found that these laws reduced traced illegal gun movement by 46 percent compared to states that do not have such laws.3Leo H. Kahane, “Understanding the Interstate Export of Crime Guns: A Gravity Model Approach,” Contemporary Economic Policy 31, no. 3 (2012): 618–34, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.2012.00324.x. Another study found that mandatory-reporting laws were associated with a 30 percent lower risk that guns would be purchased in that state and recovered after a crime in another state.4Daniel W. Webster et al., “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013): 109–21, https://bit.ly/3Ic334l. In addition to other policies to help prevent gun theft, including requiring secure gun storage at home and in vehicles and promoting public awareness of the benefits of secure storage, lawmakers should pass laws to affirmatively require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement for investigation immediately when they go missing.

By the numbers

>200,000

On average, more than 200,000 guns are stolen from private gun owners each year.

stat

46%

One study found that lost and stolen reporting laws reduced traced illegal gun movement by 46 percent compared to states that do not have such a law.

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9

On average, at least one gun is stolen from a car every nine minutes in the United States.

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>34,000

Between 2017 and 2021, there were 5,395 reported incidents of theft from licensed gun dealers, resulting in 34,339 firearms stolen.

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Learn More

Stolen Guns Pose a Tremendous Risk to Public Safety Resource Guns Stolen from Cars: The Largest Source of Stolen Guns Resource Guide to Secure Storage Devices Resource >13,000

Did you know?

Between 2017 and 2021, there were 6,008 reported incidents of theft or loss from interstate shipping companies, involving 13,145 firearms.

ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download.

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