American Firearm Trafficking

Abstract

Firearms are incredibly intertwined with American history; but the American firearm industry has expanded far beyond a level that our founding fathers would have ever predicted. American firearms are not only trafficked within the country to circumvent strict state firearm laws. But they are also trafficked to various nations around the world, causing massive amounts of social and economic harm. Even though there have been great strides made by US legislators to enforce firearm laws, firearm trafficking still persists despite those efforts. Traffickers buy firearms through reliable methods which takes advantage of well-known blind spots within federal firearm regulation—such as straw purchasing, unlicensed dealing, and theft from FFLs. Next, they are trafficked through established routes along interstate highway systems; the weapons typically start in states with weak firearm regulation, and they are transported to states with strict firearm laws where the weapons are sold for a massive profit. Within the US these trafficked firearms carry far more danger than a legally purchased firearm, since they are recovered at crime scenes quicker than the national average; But, in Haiti and Mexico the situation is far different. Firearms trafficked outside of the US supply Transnational Criminal Organizations with a deadly arsenal to compete against the national government. As a result, normal life within these countries is heavily destabilized by the presence of armed gangs and cartels. There is a dire need to cut the consistent flow of weapons sourced from American FFLs and reduce the harm caused by American made firearms across the globe. But in the current political environment; the federal government has diverted resources away from federal authorities combatting firearm traffickers. To counteract this action and still effectively reduce trafficked firearms, states within the US need to implement laws which regulate the purchase of firearms within their jurisdiction. The measures proposed in this paper could enhance tracing on trafficked firearms, improve the number of annual gun compliance inspections, and drastically diminish the portion of firearms stolen from FFLS.