Legislation reintroduced in the House of Representatives this week would help the ATF reduce illegal firearms trafficking and make it harder for criminals to obtain deadly weapons.
“The rise in crime we are seeing in the city of Chicago and across the country is extremely concerning. While taking guns out of the equation won’t stop crime completely, it is a vital component of addressing the problem,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-05), the author of the Trafficking Reduction and Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act. “The Tiahrt Amendments have kept law enforcement from being able to keep our communities safe and have protected bad apples in the firearm sales business. The TRACE Act is common sense legislation that will close these loopholes and ultimately reduce the number of illegal guns flowing into our communities.”
“The United States’ gun violence epidemic is unique among our peer nations. In recent years, the number of recorded active shooter incidents has grown dramatically, and that problem will get worse every year that Congress does not pass commonsense gun safety laws,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. “The TRACE Act would make it harder for criminals to purchase firearms by giving ATF the data they need to put an end to illegal gun sales. This bill is exactly the type of legislation America needs, and I’m honored to cosponsor it. It’s time to put an end to the gun-related tragedies that have become far too common in our country.”
“The quickest and simplest step we can take to curb gun violence across our country is fixing our flawed background check system and permitting public access to essential documentation that traces purchases of firearms used in crimes,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell. “The Trafficking Reduction and Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act would help do that by requiring background check records to be maintained for a minimum of 180 days, ensuring that guns are kept out of the hands of people who aren’t legally allowed to buy them, and providing needed transparency to gun trace data.”
“The TRACE Act would help restore crucial tools to law enforcement to enforce firearm laws and prevent gun violence,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “For decades federal law enforcement have been hampered in their efforts to enforce federal firearm laws by allies of the gun lobby who put the profits of gun manufacturers above protecting American lives. This bill would help ATF crack down on bad apple gun dealers, allow more effective tracing of guns used to commit crimes, and update government regulations that hamper police efforts to prevent violent crime. This is a reasonable approach to enforcing the law that elected leaders should support regardless of party.”
“In a 2016 survey of prisoners, among those who had possessed a firearm during their offense, 56% had either stolen the weapon, found it, or obtained it in the underground market and only 7% had purchased it legally under their own name. It is clear that to cut down on gun violence, we must address illegal gun trafficking,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier. “I am proud to join Congressman Mike Quigley in taking action to improve law enforcement’s ability to track crime guns, making it harder for criminals to obtain and use deadly weapons.”
“The TRACE Act is a key step towards preventing gun violence. With this bill, we can close the loopholes that allow guns to get in the wrong hands,” said Rep. Jake Auchincloss
Quigley originally introduced the TRACE Act in 2011. This legislation is supported by Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Newtown Action Alliance, Purpose over Pain, and the Violence Policy Center.
“For far too long, law enforcement has been hampered in preventing gun trafficking and violent crime by barriers put in place by allies of the gun industry in Congress. This legislation will repeal these policies riders included in the dangerous Tiahrt Amendments, which has had a chilling effect on meaningful transparency and prevented effective oversight of the gun industry. The legislation will also take a tremendous step forward for law enforcement to develop leads on investigations by requiring that an additional, hidden serial number will be printed on all firearms. This bill will stop guns from flowing into the criminal market and our communities and Brady is proud to support it,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady.
“The introduction of the TRACE Act is great news for everyone except for the criminals and extremists who rely on illegal guns to wreak their havoc,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Rep. Quigley’s TRACE Act will help us better understand where crime guns are coming from so we can cut them off at the source.”
“Since 2003, the Tiahrt Amendments have hamstrung the ATF’s ability to prevent gun crimes, reduce gun trafficking, and prosecute gun offenders. We are proud to support Representative Quigley’s TRACE Act to reverse the damaging restrictions imposed on the ATF.” said Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance. “The ATF should not be required to destroy background check records in 24 hours, gun dealers should be required to perform inventory checks to report lost and stolen guns, and the trace data should be available for the public and researchers. We encourage Congress to pass this crucial bill that will help the ATF do its job to help end the gun violence crisis in our nation,” said Po Murray, Chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance & Newtown Action Alliance Foundation
“Preventing gun violence means preventing illegal gun sales and stopping those who shouldn’t have guns from ever getting them in the first place,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “We’re proud to strongly support Rep. Quigley’s TRACE Act which takes common sense and substantive actions to help law enforcement stem the tide of illegal guns in our communities.”
“For too long, federal firearm laws have put corrupt business interests over public safety,” said Adzi Vokhiwa, federal affairs director at Giffords. “In order to curb the rising levels of violence we’ve seen nationwide, we must repeal dangerous provisions that limit the study of gun trafficking and weaken law enforcement’s ability to prevent crimes and prosecute offenders. We thank Congressman Quigley for introducing the TRACE Act to do just that. This lifesaving legislation will ensure that gun dealers are required to do their part in making certain that guns don’t fall into the wrong hands. We urge Congress to swiftly pass this bill so that law enforcement has the right tools to keep our communities safe and save lives from gun violence.”
The TRACE Act would:
- Require background check records to be maintained for a minimum of 180 days. TheTiahrt Amendments currently require 24-hour record destruction, making it nearly impossible to catch law-breaking gun dealers who falsify their records or track straw purchasers who buy guns on behalf of criminals.
- Require gun dealers to perform inventory checks to report lost and stolen guns, a measure currently prohibited under the Tiahrt Amendments. If law-abiding dealers reported inventories, the ATF would be much more effective at identifying lost and stolen weapons and combatting corrupt gun dealers.
- Repeal restrictions on gun trace data disclosures. Currently, members of the public, including researchers and litigants, cannot get trace data from ATF under Tiahrt restrictions. Trace data is also inadmissible as evidence in civil proceedings under existing policy. The TRACE Act would repeal these restrictions.
- Require that new firearms have a second, hidden serial numberlocated inside the frame or receiver that is only visible under infrared light when the firearm is fully disassembled. This would make it harder for criminals to remove serial numbers from firearms in an attempt to thwart law enforcement.
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