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Implementing a Firearms Trafficking Strategy: Prosecuting Corrupt Federal Firearms Licensees

NCJ Number
199031
Journal
USA Bulletin Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 40-47
Author(s)
Bruce Reinhart
Date Published
January 2002
Length
8 pages
Annotation
After describing how gun markets work, this article suggests principles for the development of a trafficking strategy, with attention to the identification and prosecution of corrupt Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), who are authorized by license to sell firearms.
Abstract
FFLs can purchase firearms at wholesale prices and must maintain a business premise. FFLs are required to keep certain records of their acquisition and disposition of firearms, including Form 4473. They are required to conduct pre-sale checks under the Brady law, to cooperate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in firearms tracing, and to file multiple sales reports with ATF. In a single community, a corrupt FFL can put guns in the hands of criminals fastest and in the greatest number. The illegal marketing of guns by FFL's is tempting, because persons who cannot obtain guns legally will often pay a premium to obtain a gun. Investigation and charging decisions in cases of corrupt FFLs should show the profit motive as the basis for FFL criminal firearm trafficking. This article describes various investigative techniques for identifying and collecting evidence of illegal activity by FFLs. This includes the use of firearm trace data, the analysis of multiple sales data, analysis of FFL records of firearm acquisitions and purchases to determine whether they match, and the use of the National Insta-Check System (NICS) for handgun purchases. A FFL with a large number of NICS denials coupled with a large number of traces may indicate that the FFL is assisting "straw" purchasers (qualified persons purchasing weapons for ineligible persons). This article also identifies the legal tools that can be used to prosecute the illegal conduct of a FFL. Further, the article discusses how the U.S. circuit court decision in United States v. Klein (1957) can be used to allow the prosecution to present the totality of the defendant's illegal conduct in a unified prosecution theory that focuses on the defendants unlawful intent to profit by evading the Federal firearms regulation scheme. Other prosecution techniques are also described.