By Aidan Johnston

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is maintaining a digital, searchable, centralized registry of guns and gun owners in violation of various federal prohibitions, as revealed by an ATF response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Gun Owners of America (GOA). In November of 2021, an internal ATF memo leaked by Gun Owners of America revealed that ATF had processed and digitized over 50,000,000 “out of business” records of gun dealers in FY 2021. This report was picked up by major pundits and news outlets including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and the Blaze. This revelation prompted Representative Michael Cloud and 51 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives to send a letter to ATF asking more questions and demanding accountability.5 In response to that letter, ATF revealed to Congress that it currently maintains a database of 920,664,765 such records, of which 865,787,086 are in a digitized format as of November 2021.6 Unsurprisingly, ATF denied that this vast database constitutes a gun registry, which is explicitly prohibited by federal law....

Springfield, VA: Gun Owners of America, 2022. 32p.

By David E. Olson, Don Stemen, Kaitlyn Foust, Cynthia Guzman, Lisa Jacobs, Sophia Juarez, Holly Michalak, Avery Pankratz, and Amanda Ward

Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice, through the support of the Joyce Foundation, completed the most comprehensive, detailed analysis of the sentencing of those convicted of firearm possession offenses in Illinois to date. These offenses do not involve the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime or the unlawful discharge of a firearm. Rather, these convictions are for the possession of a firearm by individuals not legally authorized to possess or carry a firearm because of their age, having a prior felony conviction, or not applying for and receiving a license to carry a concealed handgun. Depending on the factor(s) that make the possession of a firearm illegal, the legal classifications and possible sentences range from Class 4 felonies (the least serious felony) to Class X felonies (the most serious felonies other than first degree murder), and carry sentences ranging from probation for up to 30 months to 30 years in prison. Out of all the arrests and convictions in Illinois for firearm-related offenses over the past decade, 72% have been for firearm possession offenses while 28% have been for the use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime or illegal discharge of a firearm. Despite the concern over firearm violence, and increasingly punitive laws surrounding illegal firearm possession offenses implemented over the past 15 years, the lack of objective, detailed research limits the ability of practitioners and policy makers to assess the efficacy and impact of these approaches.

Chicago: Loyola University Chicago, Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice, 2021. 33p.

By United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

What is the relationship between violence, crime and arms trafficking in Colombia? This report aims to answer this question and provide an assessment of the arms situation in Colombia. The document provides an overview of violence with firearms in Colombia, the main violence-generating factors in the country, and the relationship between firearms and the different forms of violence. The author further examines the dynamics of the manufacturing, trafficking, illegal possession and carrying of small arms and light weapons, as well as the contraband routes, the groups involved, and the principal suppliers. Chapters of the book also consider different aspects of the institutional handling of firearms in Colombia and the different disarmament experiences that have taken place in the country, such as the disarmament experiences of rebel groups and those carried out voluntarily.

The document concludes by analysing the commitments, actions, and positions assumed by Colombia with respect to the different protocols, conventions, and cooperation agreements on small arms and light weapons. In this respect, the authors highlight the leadership and permanent initiative that Colombia has displayed in the international field, by promoting the signature and adoption of different instruments aimed at reducing illegal trafficking and strengthening controls of legal arms transfers at the international level. With the exception of the weak penalization for the illegal carrying of arms, the authors argue that Colombia has tried to adapt its internal legislation to international requirements and standards.

Bogota: UNODC, 2006. 127p.