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Report Lost and Stolen Guns

Report Lost and Stolen Guns

What does this solve?

Hundreds of thousands of guns are lost or stolen from private gun owners, gun dealers, or shipping companies every year.1ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download. Requiring that lost and stolen guns be reported to law enforcement deters illegal gun trafficking. The reporting of these guns allows the police to respond more quickly to gun thefts and helps them identify tracking patterns.

Stolen guns are often diverted into an underground market where people with dangerous histories are able to easily obtain firearms.1Philip J. Cook, “Gun Markets,” Annual Review of Criminology 1 (2018): 359–77, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092149; ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download. Lost and stolen guns have been recovered at the scenes of violent crimes,2Brian Freskos, “Missing Pieces: Gun Theft From Legal Gun Owners is on the Rise, Quietly Fueling Violent Crime,” The Trace, November 20, 2017, https://www.thetrace.org/2017/11/stolen-guns-violent-crime-america/. shootings on school grounds, and unintentional shootings by children. Passing laws requiring gun owners to report guns that have been lost or stolen to law enforcement can help prevent illegal gun trafficking and gun violence.

How it Works

Reporting lost or stolen guns may reduce underground gun sales and illegal gun trafficking.

Federal law requires firearm dealers to report firearms that are lost or stolen from their inventory to local authorities and to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).118 U.S.C. 923(g)(6); 27 CFR 478.39a and 479.141; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, “Report Firearms Theft or Loss: Reporting for Federal Firearms Licensees,” September 23, 2022, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/report-firearms-theft-or-loss. Although more than 95 percent of stolen guns come from thefts from private gun owners,2ATF, “National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFTCA), Volume II: Crime Gun Intelligence and Analysis—Part V: Firearm Thefts,” January 2023, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-v-firearm-thefts/download. with the exception of weapons registered under the National Firearms Act, federal law does not require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement.

Laws requiring that lost and stolen guns be reported to law enforcement are associated with significant reductions in gun trafficking. One study found that these laws reduced traced illegal gun movement by 46 percent compared to states that do not have such laws.3Leo H. Kahane, “Understanding the Interstate Export of Crime Guns: A Gravity Model Approach,” Contemporary Economic Policy 31, no. 3 (2012): 618–34, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7287.2012.00324.x. Another study found that mandatory-reporting laws were associated with a 30 percent lower risk that guns would be purchased in that state and recovered after a crime in another state.4Daniel W. Webster et al., “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013): 109–21, https://bit.ly/3Ic334l. In addition to other policies to help prevent gun theft, including requiring secure gun storage at home and in vehicles and promoting public awareness of the benefits of secure storage, lawmakers should pass laws to affirmatively require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement for investigation immediately when they go missing.

By the numbers

Which states require reporting of lost and stolen guns?

17 states have adopted this policy

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Alabama has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Alaska has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Arizona has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Arkansas has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

California has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Colorado has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Connecticut has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Delaware has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Florida has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Georgia has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Hawaii has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Idaho has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Illinois has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Indiana has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Iowa has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Kansas has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Kentucky has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Louisiana has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Maine has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Maryland has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Massachusetts has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Michigan has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Minnesota has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Mississippi has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Missouri has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Montana has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Nebraska has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Nevada has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

New Hampshire has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

New Jersey has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

New Mexico has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

New York has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

North Carolina has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

North Dakota has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Ohio has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Oklahoma has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Oregon has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Pennsylvania has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Rhode Island has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

South Carolina has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

South Dakota has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Tennessee has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Texas has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Utah has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Vermont has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Virginia has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Washington has adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

West Virginia has not adopted this policy

Lost and Stolen Reporting

Wisconsin has not adopted this policy

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Wyoming has not adopted this policy

Myth & Fact

Myth

Lost and stolen reporting laws only re-victimize and penalize gun owners when the focus should be on criminals.

Fact

Most lost and stolen reporting laws only have consequences to gun owners who fail to alert law enforcement when their guns are lost or stolen. Lost and stolen reporting laws are associated with a 30 percent lower risk that guns would be purchased in that state and recovered after a crime in another state.1Daniel W. Webster et al., “Preventing the Diversion of Guns to Criminals Through Effective Firearm Sales Laws,” in Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013): 109–21, https://bit.ly/3Ic334l.

All Resources

Report Lost and Stolen Guns