Should the ATF's crime gun tracing system be modernized? WCCO Investigates
MINNEAPOLIS — Tracing crime guns could give police an investigative lead. The system is outdated. Some have called it archaic. Federal law prevents it from being updated.
There's a conversation happening in Congress around modernizing the tracing system. Others want to stop progress in its tracks, and even go backwards. Senior investigative reporter Jennifer Mayerle dives into the issue.
The ATF National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia, is the only place in the world that can trace a crime gun back to its origin to help with an investigation.
"When firearms are recovered by law enforcement, in the case of or in the process of a criminal investigation, that firearm can be traced down to the original purchaser of that gun. That's what we aim to do here," Neil Troppman with the Tracing Center said.
Boxes line the hallways. People unpack deliveries. Document prep is a full-time job.
Mayerle commented the center feels like the Dark Ages and outdated. Troppman agreed.
The Firearms Protection Act of 1986 prohibits the ATF from creating a registry of guns or an electronic database. Contractors at the center manually look through documents from out-of-business gun dealers to find the trace information. Or they're on the phone calling manufacturers, distributors and active retailers.
"How would you describe the system out there?" Mayerle asked Travis Riddle, Special Agent in Charge in St. Paul.
"Organized chaos," Riddle said. "You have a lot of people all focused on the same mission, and it takes all those people working together to get those traces done."
There is a conversation happening nationally about if the tracing center should be modernized.
"That's completely up to Congress. Congress makes the rules, we enforce the rules," Riddle said. "And if Congress elects to do that, we'll adjust accordingly. If they prefer to keep it as they have it now, you've seen it firsthand, we'll continue doing what we're doing to fulfill that mission."
Improving the system is up to Congress. Bills to establish a searchable database have gone nowhere.
While the conversation continues, Twin Cities agencies say there's unpredictability with each trace.
Megan Hamann is with the Minneapolis Police Department.
"I would love to see that all digitized and immediately available," Hamann said. "I think it would help everybody involved."
District Chief Jeff Stiff with the St. Paul Police Department is conflicted.
"I'm a Second Amendment person, and I believe in personal rights. That's just it," Stiff said. "But as a police officer, I truly believe that there are victims, legitimate victims, that we could help faster."
The ATF is on track to trace a record-setting 670,000 crime guns this year.
The agency is requesting more funding, while there are calls to cut funding to the agency in the 2025 budget.
WCCO reached out to some local members of Congress for comment. We either did not hear back or they chose to pass on an interview.