By Robert Hausman

In this second installment of SAR’s special coverage of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms’ (ATF), first in a series of published in-depth looks at the firearms industry in America, the topics of illegal firearms trafficking, gun tracing, the history of U.S. firearms regulation, and some statistical information on transfers and ownership of National Firearms Act regulated arms are presented.

In a study published in 1999 of the sources of trafficked firearms identified in ATF illegal trafficking investigations involving youth and juveniles, the greatest source of illegal firearms (50.9%) were firearms trafficked by straw purchasers or straw purchasing rings. Trafficking in firearms stolen from a dealer came in second at 20.7%, and trafficking in firearms by unregulated private sellers (as distinct from straw purchasers and other traffickers) came in third at 14.2%.

Trafficked firearms stolen from residences comprised 13.6% of the sources of firearms in the study, while firearms trafficked at gun shows, flea markets, auctions, or in want ads and gun magazines came to 9.9%, and firearms trafficked by licensed dealers, including pawnbrokers, totaled 6.3%. Street criminals buying and selling guns from unknown suppliers were a source of only 4% of the guns under study, while trafficking in firearms stolen from common carriers came in at 2.5%, and other sources (such as guns sold over the Internet and illegal pawning) comprised only 1.4%.

ATF has discovered a small number of dealers account for a large proportion of the firearms traced. In 1998, among all dealers, 14% had one or more firearms traced to them in that year; about 32% of the pawnbrokers and about 12% of other retail dealers had a trace that year. Only 1.2% of dealers in 1998 were associated with 10 or more traces. These approximately 1,000 dealers accounted for well over 50% of the traces to retail dealers that year.

About 330 dealers, a fraction of one percent of the total, were associated with 25 or more traces and accounted for about 40% of the traces to dealers in 1998. While the average time-to-crime for traced firearms is about six years, many traced firearms are recovered in three years or less.

Approximately 200,000 trace requests were made in 1999. Not all trace requests result in the identification of the original licensed retail dealer or purchaser of the traced firearm. A gun trace currently identifies the first retail dealer for about 60% of trace requests and the first retail purchaser for approximately 40% of trace requests.

Factors Inhibiting Tracing

The factors inhibiting the tracing of firearms include non-responsive dealers. Though dealers are required to respond to trace requests within 24 hours, and many do respond promptly to trace requests, ATF says some dealers totally disregard or refuse to comply with a request; others fail to respond within 24 hours and still others supply incorrect information.

Another difficulty is in tracing secondhand guns. Federal law does not require unlicensed sellers to preserve transfer records (of non-National Firearms Act regulated arms), nor are gun owners required to keep a record of the serial number of their firearms or to report lost or stolen firearms. Thus, it is generally impossible for a crime gun trace to identify purchasers beyond the initial retail buyer.

Some traces cannot be completed because the firearm is lost or stolen while in transit between two licensees, and not reported as such to ATF. Current regulations do not specify whether the shipping or receiving licensee is responsible for reporting the theft or loss of a firearm while it is in transit. Interstate carriers are not required to report the theft or loss of firearms shipped in commerce. In fiscal year 1999, there were 1,290 crime gun traces in which the FFL-holder claimed it never received the firearm sent to it.

The intentional obliteration of firearms’ serial numbers by criminals poses a serious threat to the effectiveness of the firearms tracing system. ATF restores obliterated serial numbers at its three national firearms laboratories. On June 23, 1999, ATF issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to impose marking requirements that would make it more difficult to obliterate serial numbers.

Gun Law History

ATF’s report notes that prior to the enactment of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which established the present system for federal licensing and regulation of gun dealers, the firearms industry was regulated by three major pieces of national legislation.

The first was the Revenue Act of 1918, which imposed a tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition by the manufacturer or importer of the firearm or ammunition. The tax is 10% for handguns and 11% for all other firearms. The tax has been in effect, with few modifications, since 1918.

The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) was enacted to combat “gangster” violence that had increased markedly during alcohol prohibition. The NFA imposes an excise tax on manufacturing and transferring a narrow class of firearms, defined by statute, including machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and rifles, silencers and “gadget” guns such as umbrella guns and pen guns.

By taxing the manufacture and transfer of these arms, the NFA sought to reduce the availability and the commerce of these arms to the criminal element. The NFA also requires that these arms, and each transfer of them, be recorded in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 applied to all firearms and prohibited anyone not licensed as a manufacturer or dealer from transporting, shipping, or receiving any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce. Licensed dealers and manufacturers could ship firearms interstate only to other licensed dealers and manufacturers, and to those who had or were not required to have a license under state law to purchase the firearm. Licensed dealers and manufacturers were required to keep records of firearms transactions.

The law prohibited any person from shipping or transporting in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm or ammunition to any felon, person under felony indictment, or fugitive from justice, and these prohibited persons could not ship or transport any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce. Although later repealed by the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), many of its provisions formed the framework for the GCA.

The Gun Control Act of 1968, by creating a licensing scheme that regulates the interstate movement of firearms, helps individual states enforce their own laws regulating firearms possession and transfers by generally prohibiting the transport and shipment of firearms across state lines. Before the GCA, differences among state controls over firearms commerce impaired the ability of states to enforce their own laws. The GCA’s interstate prohibitions were intended to minimize the impact of different state laws, which had led to illicit commerce in guns between states with little firearms regulation and states with strict controls.

The GCA generally prohibits the importation of firearms. However, it contains an exception for firearms which are of a type “generally recognized as particularly suitable for, or readily adaptable to, sporting purposes.” Since 1968, factoring criteria, which include overall length, frame construction, weight, caliber, and safety features, have been used to determine if handguns meet the sporting purposes test.

The Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 (FOPA) contained many provisions aiding the firearms industry and individual gun owners. Unfortunately, the law also banned the manufacture of machine guns for civilian use. Among the FOPA’s positive provisions, was one amending the GCA to allow dealers to conduct business temporarily at gun shows, provided the gun show was located within the same state as the dealer’s licensed premises.

The FOPA also reduced most recordkeeping offenses committed by licensed dealers from felonies to misdemeanors and amended the GCA to provide that ATF could conduct only one warrantless inspection of a licensee for compliance purposes in any 12-month period. Prior to 1986, the GCA did not include any specific mens rea (meaning “guilty mind”) requirements. The FOPA amended the GCA to require proof of either a “knowing” or a “willful” state of mind for all GCA violations.

The FOPA prohibits ATF from establishing any national system of conventional gun registration. Before 1986, the GCA provided for the seizure and forfeiture of any firearm or ammunition involved in, or used or intended to be used in any violation of the GCA. The FOPA amended the GCA to require “clear and convincing evidence” of intent to violate the law before the government could seize and forfeit firearms used in GCA violations. In addition, the government must begin forfeiture proceedings within 120 days of seizure.

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 was implemented in two stages: an interim stage and a permanent stage. The interim provisions went into effect on February 28, 1994, requiring dealers to submit a “Brady Form” to a chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) who had the option of conducting a background check on the prospective handgun purchaser. The law required the dealer to wait for up to five business days for the CLEO’s response before the handgun could be transferred to the buyer.

The permanent provisions of the Brady Act went into effect November 30, 1998. It was at this time that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (Sometimes referred to as the “NRA Plan”) came into use for checking the backgrounds of buyers of both hand and long guns in states where it applies.

On September 13, 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it unlawful, with certain exceptions, to manufacture, transfer, or possess certain firearms defined as so-called “semiautomatic assault weapons” not lawfully possessed on the date of the law’s enactment. The 1994 law also made it generally unlawful to possess and transfer large capacity ammunition feeding devices (those holding over 10 rounds) manufactured after September 13, 1994.

The 1994 Act also required those applying for federal firearms licenses to submit photographs and fingerprints as part of their application, and to certify that their firearms business complied with all state and local laws, including zoning regulations.

By Nick Steadman

SADW is a monthly electronic publication from Nick Steadman Features. Nick, intrepid world traveling reporter for much of the arms industry, files this 40,000 to 50,000 word report once a month to his loyal subscribers. Those lucky ones pay a mere $50 (US) £32.50 (UK) per year for the privilege of getting the hot tips and insights from one of the industry’s insiders. Nick’s unique perspective is globally based, as is his wit. Each issue is full of insight and information for those with an interest in Small Arms, as well as his observations on world travel.
UK DEFENCE SECRETARY ON SA80 MODIFICATION OR REPLACEMENT: the following are extracts of a recent letter (paragraphs re-set, our underscoring) sent by the UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, to the moderator of the Cybershooters mailing list:

‘We commissioned the Design Authority for the weapon to assess its reliability and to design potential modifications. These modifications have been the subject of extensive trials carried out in Alaska and Kuwait to replicate the extreme conditions in which UK forces might be called on to operate.

The trials demonstrated that we can achieve significant improvements in the reliability of the SA80. The proposed modification package represents a whole system approach to improving the reliability while maintaining the weapon system’s overall effectiveness. They include modifications to the gas plug, a redesigned bolt, a new magazine, a modified firing pin, stiffer recoil and piston rod springs, a replacement hammer, a redesigned extraction and ejection system, a redesigned cocking handle and, for the Light Support Weapon, a replacement barrel.

We are currently assessing the wider implications of the trials report and a number of key issues are being considered. One of these is the cost of modifying the existing weapon and whether it is more cost effective to procure a new weapon such as the C7 or G36 rifles.’

Note the large number of modified components which would be required if the SA80 (particularly the LSW version) was retained and upgraded – it’d be virtually a new weapon. We can’t believe this option would be remotely ‘cost-effective’, and we’d be simply amazed if at least a partial replacement was not now ordered.

ARMSCOR (PHILIPPINES) NEWS: for 2000, Armscor in the Philippines is offering a new ‘heavily-customised’ .45 ACP M1911 pistol variant for IPSC competition. It has also increased its production volume on ammunition, which in the past was mostly taken up by domestic demand, and now aims to meet US requirements from its Las Vegas location. Armscor is also getting more into IPSC and home defence ammunition. Amongst its military ammunition lines, Armscor produces petal-crimp blanks in both 5.56mm and 9x19mm. The 9mm loading is the full length of a ball cartridge, the 5.56mm blank rather shorter than the full-length pointed versions favoured by the UK forces. Armscor also offers .22 rimfire (Short & LR), .22 WMR, .30 US Carbine, 9x19mm, .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Super, .38 Spl, .357 Mag, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, 5.56mm M193, 20g BB and 12g (No 4 to No 8 shot plus 00 Buckshot). All the centrefire metallic loadings are FMJ (ball) except .357, which is available in JHP and JSP versions. E-mail: armscor@info.com.ph

.20 COIL GUN CONCEPT: in an issue of National Defense at the end of 1999, Larry Schamber, an engineer at Allinson Transmission, a division of General Motors in Indianapolis, wrote that he had developed a computer concept for an electro-magnetic coil gun firing a 23.14gr stainless steel projectile at up to 6,673 fps, delivering an ME of 3,030 Joules. The bullet is 0.2” in diameter and 1” long, and is intended to be fired in a 6” barrel. He added that the only recoil forces result directly from the bullet’s functioning. Though he considers making this into a viable hand-held weapon would be difficult, he nevertheless believes it is feasible.

EOD EQUIPMENT REQUIRED BY UK MOD: the UK MOD is seeking expressions of interest by 31 Aug 2000 in contracts to produce unspecified EOD equipment (quantity ‘a few hundreds’), which it says will be ‘manufactured from plastics and will incorporate explosives’ (go figure!). It will be a ‘build to print’ deal. UK MOD Contact Tel (0117) 913-1628, Fax 1940.

SUSAT – NEW APPLICATIONS: the 4x SUSAT scope issued for front-line SA80s in the UK forces has apparently found a new niche. A photo run by Navy News showed Royal Marines from 42 Commando RM practising with their tripod-mounted .50 M2HB machine guns aboard HMS Ocean off the coast of Sierra Leone.

Mounted on top of these guns, several inches above the boreline, were SUSATs. We noticed in particular that the gunners’ eye was right up against the eyecup of the scope, which has a very short (about 1”) eye relief, designed as it is for light-recoiling 5.56mm weapons. However, we would not particularly want to use a heavy-recoiling .50 with a scope of this design. The scope base was also right against the firer’s nose and the large range drum beneath it was against his chin. The M2 guns shown were clearly fitted with the short barrels as inherited from the (pre-laser rangefinder) Chieftain tank ranging gun role. Others guns of this type have also been noted with the Parachute Brigade. We understand the maximum all-out range is considerably reduced with these short tubes, by as much as a couple of thousand yards.

Though at typical engagement ranges this is probably of no great concern, it would be relevant for more distant fire with AP ammunition, which (unlike 40mm grenades) depends for its effects on maintaining a decent downrange velocity. Interestingly though, we found a couple of years ago in the USA that the popular but pricey .50 MP (APHEI) bullets would still punch neat holes in quarter-inch mild steel targets at 200 yards when fired only at subsonic velocity. In the same circumstances mild steel-cored .50 ball bullets were defeated – they simply burst their GM jackets and the cores were compressed to about half their original length.

HOPPES No 9 LAWSUIT: a 34-year-old man in the USA is suing Brunswick Corporation and Kmart, the Dominion Post reported, for an unspecified sum, claiming he’s suffered permanent damage to his lungs and respiratory system from inhaling Hoppes No 9 Nitro Powder Solvent, a product owned by Brunswick that most readers have probably used at some time in the past. Reportedly the plaintiff says he suffered shortness of breath, chest pains & dizziness after cleaning a gun back in 1998 with Hoppes No 9, requiring extensive treatment, and has developed asthma and diabetes. It’s also claimed the solvent’s packaging carried inadequate warnings.

MORE US SMART GUN DEVELOPMENT AWARDS: in mid-May 2000, CNN reported that Smith & Wesson and FN Manufacturing Inc were each awarded a $300,000 R&D grant by the US Justice Department for development of Smart Gun prototypes and related personalisation technologies such as fingerprint recognition.

WALTHER ‘SMART GUN’: German sources confirm that Walther in Germany has been developing ‘Smart Gun’ concepts for some five years now, and prototypes already exist, though the company is reportedly awaiting some firm evidence of demand before proceeding further. Such demand seems unlikely to materialise in Germany or the rest of Europe any time soon, at least insofar as official agencies are concerned, the USA being so far the only country to get a bee in its bonnet about user recognition for firearms – now primarily as a means to subject firearms to consumer product controls.

UK SPECIAL FORCES SMALL ARMS CONTRACT GOES TO CANADA: the UK MOD has awarded a contract (value unstated) to the Canadian Commercial Corporation in Ottawa for a fixed quantity of new 5.56mm small arms systems (NSAS), in lieu of SA80, for British special forces and some other users. Optical sights and bayonets are also required. Decoding this deal, the supplier is clearly Diemaco Inc of Ontario, and we’d guess the quantity for SAS and SBS is probably no more than 1,000-1,500 weapons, but maybe extra if the (unspecified) ‘other users’ extend much beyond the Para Pathfinder Platoon. Given the optical sight, we imagine the primary weapon is a variant of the flat-top C7A1 (M16A2) or a Diemaco equivalent of the M4A1 SOPMOD Carbine, in both cases probably with Modular Weapon System enhancements for adding extra accessories to the weapon without having to remove the optics. Why all the guessing? Simply because the MOD usually provides absolutely no details on special forces orders like this, despite the fact the taxpayer is footing the bill. However, we know there is wider interest in the British army in an M4A1 lookalike, and special forces tend to like the extra flexibility of the MWS approach.

It crossed our minds that this order might also be cover for a bigger Diemaco buy – maybe even to include the 20,000-odd rifles the MOD is said to be considering to completely replace the SA80 with rapid reaction forces – but maybe that would be too devious even for Whitehall. We shall see. SAS (who do not use SA80) and Pathfinders already have M16A2 variants in service, but presumably cane their equipment considerably more than line infantry. We imagine the new buy is to introduce an element of uniformity across the whole special forces spectrum.

STERLING SMG PARTS: Internet sources suggest that PAWS Inc in the USA, which launched the ZX6 (9mm) and ZX8 (.45) Sterling-based semi-auto carbines in 1989, is still able to supply parts for owners of Sterling SMGs. Last address we have (dated 1994) is:-

PAWS Inc
8175 River Road NE
Salem, OR 97308 USA
Tel(503)393-0838
Fax(503)393-0915

Readers will recall that Royal Ordnance acquired Sterling Engineering, then essentially killed it off. It was thought at the time that this was possibly to prevent Sterling’s then latest 5.56mm assault rifle becoming a rival to the Anglo-German HK 50, lovechild of the Royal Ordnance/Heckler & Koch marriage, which later evolved into the Bundeswehr’s H&K G36 rifle. We recall that, after the Sterling production plant had been disposed of, Royal Ordnance was (ironically) compelled to ask PAWS at one point for possible assistance with SMG parts to keep its past Sterling customers supplied with spares. That said, we’re not convinced about the concept of a Sterling clone in .45 ACP. We used a PAWS .45 once in Texas and found it mighty hard to control by comparison with the 9x19mm version, which is a pussycat.

UK ANNOUNCES NEW 9x19MM REQUIREMENT: surprisingly, the UK MOD has announced a general call for expressions of interest in a new five-year contract for 9x19mm NATO ball ammunition, covering a total of 17.5 million rounds. The deadline is 30 Jun 2000, UK Contact Tel (0117) 913-1551. Only one loading is sought, suitable for use both in UK pistols and SMGs, and which must comply with British & NATO specifications. We can assume the UK forces weapons involved are the Browning Hi-Power, SIG P226/228 and the MP5, MP5K and MP5SD SMGs, possibly even the odd 9mm Sterling too. The last five-year British contract was awarded to IMI in Israel; let’s hope this time round the MOD can at least find a NATO or EU supplier to meet its needs. Ideally Royal Ordnance should get it, otherwise what price its new ten-year ‘partnering’ arrangement with the MOD?