If any of these firearms are recovered and traced by law enforcement, NTC helps develop investigative leads. FFLs are required by law to report to NTC any theft or loss of firearms from their inventory within 48 hours of discovery.

Learn how eTrace works FFL Theft/Loss ProgramĮach year, thousands of firearms are reported as lost or stolen from federal firearms licensees (FFLs). eTraceĮTrace is web-based firearms tracing system available to accredited domestic and international law enforcement agencies to assist in the tracing of U.S.-sourced firearms. The law enforcement agency submitting the trace request determines the trace classification. Traces classified as “Routine” are completed within seven to ten days on average. It also traces U.S.-sourced firearms recovered in foreign countries for law enforcement agencies in those countries. Firearms tracing can detect in-state, interstate and international patterns in the sources and types of crime guns.ĪTF processes crime gun trace requests for thousands of domestic and international law enforcement agencies each year. That information can help to link a suspect to a firearm in a criminal investigation and identify potential traffickers. commerce by the importer through the distribution chain (wholesalers and retailers), to identify an unlicensed purchaser. Tracing is a systematic process of tracking the movement of a firearm from its manufacture or from its introduction into U.S. The Tracing Processįirearms tracing begins when a law enforcement agency discovers a firearm at a crime scene and seeks to learn the origin or background of that firearm in order to develop investigative leads.

All firearms traced must have been used, or suspected to have been used, in a crime. NTC’s mission is to conduct firearms tracing to provide investigative leads for federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies.įirearm tracing provides critical information to assist domestic and international law enforcement agencies investigate and solve firearms crimes detect firearms trafficking and track the intrastate, interstate and international movement of crime guns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Tracing Center (NTC) is the United States’ only crime gun tracing facility.

Check my pistol serial number