What Is Gun Tracing and How It’s Used to Prosecute Traffickers

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group, a second-generation criminal defense firm managed by Todd Spodek, with over 50 years of combined experience defending federal firearms cases throughout New York. Gun tracing is ATF’s primary investigative tool for connecting recovered crime guns back to their original source – and when your name appears repeatedly in trace data as the original purchaser of firearms later recovered in crimes, federal prosecutors use that pattern as evidence you’re trafficking weapons rather than using them for lawful purposes. ATF’s National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia processes hundreds of thousands of firearm traces annually, creating a massive database linking manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and purchasers to specific firearms recovered by law enforcement across the country. What makes trace data particularly dangerous for defendants is that it creates a statistical pattern suggesting criminal activity even when every individual purchase you made was entirely legal at the time, and prosecutors dont need to prove you knew where those firearms would end up – they only need to show the pattern itself, leaving you to explain how guns you legally purchased ended up in the hands of criminals across multiple jurisdictions.

How Tracing Works

When law enforcement recovers a firearm, they submit a trace request to ATF’s National Tracing Center. ATF contacts the manufacturer using the firearm’s make, model, and serial number to identify the distributor, then contacts the distributor to identify the federally licensed dealer, then contacts the dealer who provides Form 4473 records identifying the original purchaser. The process traces from manufacturer through the chain of commerce to the first retail purchaser – where criminal investigations typically begin.

eTrace and Time-to-Crime

ATF operates eTrace, an internet system allowing law enforcement to submit trace requests electronically. The system processes over 400,000 traces annually. What most people dont realize is that this database doesnt just trace individual guns – it creates profiles of purchasers whose names appear repeatedly, flagging them for trafficking investigations. If you purchased 10 firearms over several years for legitimate reasons and 3 were later recovered in crimes after being stolen or sold, ATF flags your name as appearing in multiple traces, triggering investigative interest even though you did nothing illegal. ATF also tracks “time-to-crime” – the period between purchase and recovery. Short periods suggest trafficking because the gun moved quickly from legal purchase to criminal hands. But even longer periods dont eliminate suspicion – if you show a pattern of purchasing firearms that consistently end up recovered in crimes, prosecutors use that pattern as evidence of ongoing trafficking activity spanning years.

How Prosecutors Use Trace Data

Prosecutors use trace data to establish trafficking patterns and to connect you to co-conspirators you might never have met. Look, the trace data itself doesnt prove you trafficked firearms – it proves you purchased guns that later ended up in crimes. But prosecutors argue the pattern is more important than individual transactions. If you’re the original purchaser on traces for 5, 10, or 20 firearms recovered in crimes across different cities or states, prosecutors present that statistical pattern to juries as circumstantial evidence that you must have been deliberately purchasing firearms for illegal resale rather than legitimate purposes, because the odds of that many guns from one purchaser ending up in criminal hands through coincidence are simply too low.

Connecting to Criminal Networks

If firearms you purchased are recovered from gang members or prohibited persons, prosecutors argue you were part of a conspiracy to supply criminal organizations. I’ve defended cases where clients legally sold firearms at gun shows to buyers who passed background checks, and years later those firearms were recovered from gang members in another state. Prosecutors charged conspiracy, arguing clients should have known buyers were straw purchasers based on firearm types or quantities – inferences drawn entirely from hindsight after trace data revealed where guns ended up.

Challenging Trace Evidence

Trace data is powerful but not conclusive. We present alternative explanations for how firearms you legally purchased ended up in criminal hands. If you reported firearms stolen, that breaks the chain between your purchase and criminal use. We obtain police reports, insurance claims, and testimony showing you reported losses. Prosecutors cant argue you trafficked stolen guns. Many states allow private sales without background checks. If you legally sold firearms to buyers you had no reason to believe were prohibited, that explains how guns ended up in criminal hands. The fact that a buyer you sold to later sold the gun to someone who sold it to a criminal doesnt make you a trafficker – it means the gun changed hands through chains you had no knowledge of. Long time-to-crime periods undermine trafficking inferences. If you purchased a firearm in 2018 and it was recovered in 2024, that six-year gap suggests multiple intervening transactions having nothing to do with you.

Limitations and the “Iron Pipeline”

Trace data has significant limitations. ATF can only trace to the first retail purchaser – if you later sold through a legal private sale, ATF has no record of that. The trace comes back to you, but that doesnt mean you possessed the gun when it was used in a crime. Trace data doesnt show whether firearms were stolen unless you filed a police report ATF cross-referenced. Most importantly, trace data cant show your knowledge or intent – guns you purchased could end up in crimes through theft, legal sales to buyers who later became prohibited, or chains of transactions you had no involvement in. Prosecutors in New York frequently use trace data to support the “Iron Pipeline” narrative – the theory that traffickers purchase firearms in permissive states (Virginia, Georgia, Florida) and transport them to restrictive states for resale. If you live in a permissive state and firearms you purchased were recovered in New York, prosecutors argue you’re part of the Pipeline. We challenge by showing legitimate reasons you purchased firearms and alternative explanations for how they ended up elsewhere – legal sales to buyers who moved, guns stolen during interstate travel. Trace data shows where guns were recovered; it doesnt prove you deliberately trafficked them for profit.

What Spodek Law Group Does

We obtain complete ATF trace reports through discovery, examining every trace for alternative explanations. We investigate whether firearms were reported stolen, cross-referencing police reports and insurance claims. We interview clients to document legal sales, gifts to family members, or other lawful transfers that explain how firearms left your possession. We hire experts to analyze trace data, showing juries that patterns prosecutors present as proof of trafficking can be explained by coincidence, theft, and legal resales over time. We challenge time-to-crime inferences by showing long gaps between purchase and recovery undermine any connection between your legal purchase and eventual criminal use. At Spodek Law Group, we’ve defended firearms trafficking cases built on trace data from investigation through trial. You can reach us 24/7 at our offices throughout NYC and Long Island. When prosecutors use trace data to argue you’re a trafficker, experienced defense showing alternative explanations can mean the difference between conviction and acquittal.