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U.S. Gun Shops "Lost" More Than 30,000 Firearms Last Year
Jun 17, 2008
Washington, D.C. - Gun dealers “lost” an average of at least 82 firearms every day last year, totaling more than 30,000 firearms unaccounted for in gun dealers’ inventory in fiscal year 2007, according to a Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence analysis of new data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) released this month.
Firearms that “disappear” from gun shops with no record of sale are frequently trafficked by gun traffickers and prized by criminals because the guns are virtually untraceable. Corrupt gun dealers also attempt to disguise illegal off-the-book sales by claiming that the firearms were lost or stolen.
“Communities across our nation can’t afford to have corrupt gun dealers failing to account for more than 30,000 firearms - that is a deadly recipe for more gun deaths and injuries,” said Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence President Paul Helmke. “Gun dealers are licensed by the Federal government. With that license comes the responsibility to follow sound business practices to help ensure that dangerous weapons don’t get into the hands of dangerous criminals.”
The 30,000 missing guns are likely an undercount of the total number of guns that disappeared from gun shops last year. ATF conducted compliance inspections at approximately 10,000 of the nation’s 60,000 gun dealers in fiscal year 2007, finding over 30,000 firearms missing from the dealers’ inventory with no record of sale. The other 50,000 dealers were not inspected last year due to limited ATF resources. In fiscal year 2005, ATF examined 3,083 gun dealers and found 12,274 missing firearms.
Weak federal gun laws allow gun dealers to operate without any security or inventory controls. In 2001, ATF proposed that gun dealers be required to take one physical inventory of their firearms each year to ensure that all firearms were accounted for in their shops. At the behest of the gun lobby, Congress approved an appropriations provision in 2004 put forward by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), blocking ATF from implementing that ATF proposal - and that prohibition remains the law.
Criminals frequently obtain firearms from gun dealers who have large numbers of guns “disappear” from their inventory. The Brady Center report Death Valley: Profile of a Rogue Gun Dealer tells the story of gun dealer and three term NRA Board Member Sandy Abrams, owner of Valley Gun shop in Baltimore, Maryland, who was cited for more than 900 violations of federal gun laws. Abrams failed to account for firearms in his gun shop, with 422 guns missing in a 2003 inspection, amounting to more than one-quarter of his store’s inventory. Abrams’ shop had over 483 firearms traced to crimes including 41 assaults and 11 homicides. Despite Abrams’ record of violations, weak gun laws kept Abrams in business for nearly a decade before ATF could shut him down. Abrams continued illegally selling guns after his license was revoked, and pled guilty this year to selling an assault weapon to a criminal who shot at police officers.
The Washington, D.C.-area snipers also obtained their assault rifle from a gun dealer that had a long history of missing firearms. At least 238 guns, including the snipers’ assault rifle, “disappeared” from Bull’s Eye Shooter Supply of Tacoma, Washington during just three years. The snipers killed 10 people in the D.C. area in their 2002 shooting spree.
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The Brady Campaign is the nation's largest citizens' lobby to prevent gun violence. We represent the voice of the overwhelming majority of Americans who are tired of living with the constant tragedy of gun violence and are in favor of strong laws and policies that will save lives. We are the light that exposes politicians who are putting the American people at risk, empowering the American people to hold them accountable for decisions and actions that undermine public safety.
We are driven by the focused vision of a nation where all Americans are safe at home, at work, at school, and in our communities.
Dan Gross is the President of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. A photo and more information about Dan Gross is available here.
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