Firearms and Explosives

This briefing report reviews the firearms and explosives activities of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Firearms investigations target violent crimes and drug crimes committed with firearms, firearms trafficking, and organized crime. Explosives investigations focus on criminal bombings, thefts of explosives, and arson. GAO answers the following questions: (1) What types of cases does ATF's Office of Law Enforcement investigate? (2) How are ATF's special agents allocated in relation to violent crime? (3) How does ATF set firearms and explosives law enforcement priorities? (4) What are the results of ATF's firearms and explosive cases? (5) How does ATF's Office of Law Enforcement use referrals from its Office of Compliance Operations? (6) How useful are ATF's firearms traces? (7) How does ATF handle firearms, explosives, and other property that it takes into custody?

GAO found that: (1) the BATF Office of Law Enforcement investigates primarily firearms cases and, to a lesser extent, explosives, arson, alcohol, and tobacco cases; (2) from 1988 through 1992, BATF steadily increased its firearms investigative staff and funding; (3) BATF bases its special agent allocations on internal and external staffing commitments, staffing formulae, emerging crime trends, and promotions and retirements; (4) although BATF staff allocations are influenced by the total number of violent crimes, it does not consider data on the total number of reported violent crimes committed with firearms; (5) the BATF national law enforcement strategy is based on the Crime Impact Program, which BATF uses to set crime priorities, set work objectives, and monitor accomplishments; (6) of the cases BATF recommended for prosecution between 1988 to 1991, most involved firearms violations and most defendants were convicted; (7) BATF uses referrals from its compliance inspectors to initiate and develop cases, but does not systematically evaluate the overall quality of compliance referrals; and (8) although BATF handles a large volume of firearm traces annually, it does not evaluate the usefulness of the traces in terms of timeliness or investigative value.