While there are minimal data about gun trafficking in the United States, some indicators of trafficking activity are ascertainable by analyzing ATF data about guns that are recovered in connection with violent crime and traced to determine their origin. One such indicator is “time to crime”—the time that elapses between when a gun is first purchased at retail and when it is used in connection with a crime. Because the purchase of a gun shortly before it is used in a crime suggests that it was purchased for that intent, law enforcement officials consider guns that have a time to crime of three years or less to be likely objects of trafficking. Nationally, 110,700 recovered crime guns had a short time to crime in 2019, compared with 46,755 in 2012—a 137 percent increase.9 However, states vary widely when it comes to average time to crime, suggesting that some states have a larger problem than others when it comes to gun trafficking. A 2018 analysis by The Trace found that the states that exported the highest share of short time-to-crime guns of one year or less were Nevada, Missouri, and Virginia.

Yes. The biggest recipients of U.S. guns are Canada and Mexico. From 2014 to 2019, there were more than 11,000 firearms recovered in Canada that originated in the United States. Tragically, some firearms used in Canada’s worst mass shooting—perpetrated in Nova Scotia in April 2020—were acquired in Maine and later smuggled into Canada.15 And, from 2014 to 2019, more than 70,000 U.S. guns were recovered in Mexico.16 However, the number of recovered and traced firearms could represent only a small portion of the large number of firearms that are trafficked across the U.S.-Mexico border every year. A 2013 study found that, between 2010 and 2012, close to 213,000 firearms were purchased annually in the United States and subsequently trafficked to Mexico.17 In fact, the Mexican government has sued American manufacturers for allegedly facilitating and marketing the sale of firearms to criminal groups in Mexico.

There is no specific crime of gun trafficking under U.S. federal law, and lawmakers have introduced legislation to create new crimes of gun trafficking and straw purchasing.24 However, even in the absence of these dedicated crimes, some of the conduct underlying gun trafficking does violate current federal law. For example, it is illegal to straw purchase a firearm on behalf of another person, a crime that is generally charged as making a false statement in connection with a gun sale facilitated by a licensed gun dealer.25 It is also a violation of federal law for an individual to buy a handgun in a state in which they are not a resident26 and to provide a gun to someone while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe” that they are prohibited from possessing one under federal law.27