Report by anti-gun trafficking group traces firearms using newly released ATF data
By Paul Ingram, Tucson Sentinel
July 2, 2024
At least 2,259 firearms recovered in Mexico and Central America after violent crimes were traced to gun stores in Pima County, according to records from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms compiled and released by a group that seeks to prevent gun trafficking.
In the report, the “Iron River of Weapons: its sources and contents,” the Oakland-based non-profit Stop US Arms to Mexico used ATF data released as part of a FOIA lawsuit to trace 53,411 firearms recovered in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras over a seven-year period to stores in the U.S.
The data shows traces from every state in the U.S., but the lion’s share of weapons—just under three-fourths—hailed from the southwestern U.S.
