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Appendices
Appendices: Glossary | Tech Notes | NTC Trace Request Form | Highlights: City Reports


Glossary

ASSOCIATE
Any person or persons who can be linked to the possessor of the crime gun at the time of its recovery by law enforcement.

ATF FORM 3310.4, MULTIPLE SALES REPORT
 A form completed by all Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) whenever they transfer two or more handguns within 5 consecutive business days to the same individual. The completed form contains full identifying information concerning the purchaser, the firearms, the date of transfer, and the FFL. FFLs are required by Federal law to forward this form to the National Tracing Center either by fax or mail by the close of business on the day on which the sale occurs. 18 U.S.C., Chapter 44, § 923 (g)(3).

ATF NATIONAL TRACING CENTER DIVISION (NTC)
The Division includes the National Tracing Branch (NTB) and the Crime Gun Analysis Branch (CGAB). The NTB works with law enforcement entities and the firearms industry to trace the origin and initial sale history of a firearm recovered by law enforcement officials in the United States or abroad. In some instances, the NTB traces crime guns that are sold as used guns by FFLs. The NTB is also the repository for all FFL out-of-business records and multiple sales records. The CGAB provides investigative leads to ATF field personnel, houses the FFL lost and stolen firearms reports, supports the worldwide law enforcement community by identifying firearms traffickers who supply firearms to criminals and juveniles, and prepares maps, trends, and pattern analyses, including the annual Crime Gun Trace Reports.

CALIBER
The diameter of a projectile intended to be expelled from a firearm or the dimension of the bore of a given firearm.

COLLECTOR
 Any person who acquires, holds, or disposes of firearms as curios or relics.

COMPREHENSIVE TRACING
The tracing by law enforcement of all recovered crime guns in a geographic area (e.g., town, county, metropolitan area, or state). Trace information is used to maximize investigative leads for use in identifying illegal firearms traffickers and violent criminals, and to analyze crime gun trends and patterns.

CRIME GUN
A crime gun is any firearm that is illegally possessed, used in a crime, or suspected to have been used in a crime. An abandoned firearm may also be categorized as a crime gun if it is suspected it was used in a crime or illegally possessed.

DEALER
Any person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail, or any person engaged in the business of repairing firearms or of making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms, or any licensee who is a pawnbroker.

ELECTRONIC TRACE SUBMISSION SYSTEM (ETSS)
ETSS can be a stand-alone or part of a networked, multi-user system that enables ATF Field Offices and other law enforcement organizations to capture firearm trace related data. This data is exported from ETSS and the batch file is then electronically sent for processing to the National Tracing Center (NTC).

“ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS”
A person is “engaged in the business” as a dealer in firearms if he or she devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms. The term does not include a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his or her personal collection of firearms.

FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEE (FFL)
Any persons, including a partnership, corporation, or business entity, holding a valid license issued by ATF that allows them or their employees to “engage in the business” of dealing, manufacturing, importing, repairing or pawnbrokering firearms. By law, all FFLs must keep records of their firearms transactions and forward all their records to ATF upon going out of business.

FIREARM SERIAL NUMBER
The Gun Control Act of 1968 requires that an individual serial number be affixed to firearms manufactured or imported into the United States. This unique serial number is one of several key elements used in accurately identifying a firearm and tracing it to the FFL who first sold it to an unlicensed purchaser.

FIREARM TRACE
The systematic process of tracking a recovered crime gun’s history from its source (manufacturer/ importer) through the chain of distribution (wholesaler/retailer) to the individual who first purchases the firearm.

FIREARM TRACE REQUEST
Information submitted to the NTB by the law enforcement community to solve individual crimes and acquire illegal trafficking information. Requests may be submitted by telephone (high priority/urgent), facsimile, mail, or as an electronic file through several different formats. ATF trace request forms require specific information to include, but not limited to, a description of the firearm, the individuals possessing or associated with the firearm, the recovery location, and the underlying offense that brought the crime gun to the attention of law enforcement.

FIREARM TYPE
The NTC categorizes firearms into a number of types that include, but are not limited to, pistols, revolvers, derringers, shotguns, rifles, combination firearms, machine guns, destructive devices, and unknown gun type. Firearms are generally described by identifying the firearm type, manufacturer, and caliber. This information, together with additional data such as the serial number and model, are used to accurately trace a firearm.

SEMIAUTOMATIC PISTOL
Any repeating pistol which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.

PISTOL
A weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand, and having (a) a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or permanently aligned with, the bore(s); and (b) a short stock designed to be gripped by one hand and at an angle to and extending below the line of the bore(s).

REVOLVER
A projectile weapon of the pistol type, having a breechloading chambered cylinder so arranged that the cocking of the hammer or movement of the trigger rotates it and brings the next cartridge in line with the barrel for firing.

DERRINGER
The term “derringer” has no legal definition, but for the purposes of this report it is interpreted as any one of a variety of small pocket or palm size pistols having one or more barrels.

RIFLE
A weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder, and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.

SHOTGUN
A weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder, and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.

COMBINATION GUN
A multi-barreled firearm designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder having two or more different caliber barrels. Such firearms generally exhibit some combination of rifled barrels and smoothbore shotgun barrels.

MACHINE-GUN
This term includes, in part, any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The term shall also include the frame or receiver of any such weapon.

DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE
This term includes, in part, any type of weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and which has any barrel with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter.

IMPORTER
Any person engaged in the business of importing or bringing firearms or ammunition into the United States for purposes of sale or distribution. The term shall include any person who engages in such business on a part-time basis.

INVESTIGATIVE TRACE
Investigative traces are traces that go beyond the first retail purchaser through the chain of possession until the crime gun reaches the crime gun possessor. After its initial retail purchase, a crime gun may be transferred repeatedly before being used in a crime. Further information regarding the crime gun’s trail is obtained by ATF field personnel and/or other members of the law enforcement community.

MANUFACTURER
Any person engaged in the business of manufacturing firearms or ammunition for purposes of sale or distribution. The term shall include any person who engages in such business on a part-time basis.

MARKET AREA
An area where firearms acquired in one or more source areas are possessed by individuals from whom they are later recovered.

OBLITERATED SERIAL NUMBER
Some individuals obliterate or attempt to obliterate the firearm serial number to make it more difficult to trace. ATF and local law enforcement agencies can restore the serial numbers of many of these crime guns. Obliteration of a serial number is a felony under Federal law, as is the possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

PAWNBROKER
Any person whose business or occupation includes the taking or receiving, by way of pledge or pawn, of any firearm as security for the payment or repayment of money.

POSSESSOR
The individual in possession of a crime gun at the time of its recovery by law enforcement.

PROJECT LEAD (ONLINE LEAD)
ATF’s information system designed to produce investigative leads concerning illegal firearms trafficking. The system compiles trace information in order to identify recurring trends and patterns that may indicate illegal trafficking. Online LEAD is an investigative tool provided to ATF field offices for use by local and State task forces.

PURCHASER
The individual who purchases a firearm from an FFL. A firearm trace seeks to identify the FFL who first sold the crime gun and the first individual who purchased the firearm. This information can assist law enforcement officials in investigations and in understanding the sources of illegal trafficking in firearms.

SOURCE AREA
A geographic area where illegal firearms traffickers obtain firearms that they acquire and transport to other locations for unlawful resale and/or transfer.

SOURCE STATE
The State in which the FFL that first sold the crime gun at retail is located. The source State can only be determined if a trace identifies the FFL who sold the firearm.

STRAW PURCHASE
The acquisition of a firearm(s) from a federally licensed firearms dealer by an individual (the “straw” purchaser) for the purpose of concealing the identity of the true intended receiver of the firearm(s).

STRAW PURCHASER
A person illegally purchasing a firearm from a federally licensed firearms dealer for another person, including for unlicensed sellers, criminal users, juveniles, and other prohibited possessors. Straw purchasers may be friends, associates, relatives, or members of the same gang.

TIME-TO-CRIME
The period of time between a firearm’s acquisition by an unlicensed person from a retail licensee and law enforcement’s recovery of that firearm during use, or suspected use, in a crime. A short time-to-crime suggests the firearm will be easier to trace. This measure can be an important indicator of illegal firearms trafficking.

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