Georgia ranks high on ATF firearm loss/theft report

It probably comes as no surprise that New York is near the top. Everybody would speculate as much and in fact it comes in at second in numbers. It probably is a surprise that Kentucky is first and Virginia is third in numbers, but it might be the biggest surprise – or maybe not – that Georgia is fourth.

The “numbers” are those of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They are the firearms reported lost or stolen by organizations that require a bond/license through the federal agency – the ATF.

This past year, Kentucky licensees reported 3,727 firearms lost or stolen. New York reported 3,174, Virginia 1,013 and Georgia 899. Alabama was a close fifth with 882. (Note: It should also be noted that, according to the ATF, the high number in Kentucky and New York “are a result of lost receivers/frames firearm types from internal audits conducted by FFL manufacturers in those states.”)

Within all of the states, there were 6,211 receivers/frames reported lost or stolen, 5,393 pistols, 3,975 rifles, 2,153 shotguns, 1,604 revolvers, 103 derringers, 102 silencers, 26 of “unknown” type, 18 machine guns, 14 “combinations,” and one each of “destructive devices” and flare guns. The grand total: 19,601.

In regard to reports filed, Georgia had 134. That was the third highest number of reports. (Reports were the number of “incidents,” whereas there might have been multiple firearms reported lost/stolen per incident.) Florida had 164 and Texas 193. The report categories were also broken down into “loss,” “robbery,” “larceny” and “burglary.”

For Georgia, the most reports filed were under loss. There were 77 reports filed with 433 firearms reported lost/stolen. Larceny had 32 reports filed with 138 firearms reported lost/stolen, 24 burglary reports with 321 firearms lost/missing and one robber report with seven reported lost/stolen.

The numbers did not include a county-by-county breakout and in fact, Regina Milledge, Public Information Officer/Industry Operations Investigator for the Bureau of ATF (Atlanta Field Division) said they “would not be able to release those,” for reasons unspecified.

Milledge did reiterate that this was only for those businesses and/or individuals who have/had to have a federal license.

Private citizens are a tougher group to track.

“There is no law that a private citizen has to report a loss,” she said. “They can go to the local police department and they can put it into the system and it can be tracked and if other law enforcement agencies come across it, it can be recovered.

“But they’re not required to report it. If someone has something stolen from their private collection, or if their refrigerator is stolen, it’s the same.

“Some report it. Some may choose not to because they’re not sure of the process or don’t want to, but there’s no ATF requirement to report it.”

The report itself, according to an ATF release, stems from an initiative by President Barack Obama. In 2013, according to the release, he announced a plan to reduce gun violence in the U.S. The plan included 23 executive actions, one of which called for the Department of Justice to prepare a report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and to make the report widely available to law enforcement. Per the release: “In response to the president’s directive, the annual FFL Theft/Loss Report was created.”

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