twilightgun.jpg
The Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol recovered by Seattle police after a shooting at Twilight Exit bar on Sunday was not registered to the gunman, but was not reported stolen. (Photo: SPD)

Even with help of ATF, tracking firearm can lead to dead end

BY Brandi Kruse  on January 31, 2013 @ 5:09 am (Updated: 8:35 am - 1/31/13 )

Seattle police say they will try to track down the origin of a gun used to shoot two people inside a Central District bar Sunday.

The Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol recovered by Seattle police after the shooting at Twilight Exit was not registered to the gunman, but was not reported stolen.

James D. Anderson, 32, walked into the bar on East Cherry Street shortly after 10:15 p.m. After shooting his former girlfriend and a bouncer, he was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer.

According to police, Anderson was not authorized to own a firearm due his criminal history.

A spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department said officers track every weapon used to commit a crime within the city, but often seek help from agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives.

"It's a process of trying to track down and sometimes it can come to a dead end," said ATF Special Agent Cheryl Bishop, who is based in Seattle.

Bishop said once agents are given the guns make, model and serial number, their first step is to go to the manufacturer. The manufacturer can lead agents to the distributor, which should be able to tell them the gun dealer who first sold the firearm.

Every gun dealer registered with the federal government will have filled out an ATF Form 4473, which will tell agents who the firearm's original owner was. Because such forms are not entered into a central computer database, agents must sometimes pour through papers by hand to get the information.

From there, agents track the gun's movements - sometimes from private seller to private seller - a difficult process due to the lack of paperwork required in private sales.

"The older the firearm is, the higher the chances are you may come to a dead end," Bishop said. "It's extremely labor intensive."

Brandi Kruse, KIRO Radio Reporter
Brandi Kruse is a reporter for KIRO Radio who is as spontaneous and adventurous in her free time as she is on the job. Brandi arrived at KIRO Radio in March 2011 and has already collected three regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting.
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Comments (33)


  • Add A Comment

  • Lonestar wrote...
    Yep
    January 31, 2013 7:57 am
    More background checks is what we need.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    background check
    January 31, 2013 8:32 am
    how would a background check prevented the shooting? Is critical thinking not taught anymore?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • R L M 456 wrote...
    According to police, Anderson was not authorized to own a firearm due his criminal history.
    January 31, 2013 8:35 am
    There must be a mistake

    this person was not allowed to have a gun

    this crime must not have happened

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    this is why as gun owners we should be REQUIRED BY LAW to document through legal means WHO we sell our privately owned firearms to. Universal background checks are good for ALL of us. It wont stop all crime. It wont stop most of it, but it will impede som
    January 31, 2013 8:40 am
    Like I posted, they have the gun used by the criminal. The criminal is DEAD! Justice is served. Why waist more time and money trying to decide how many owners the gun had? There is NO logic to this. Only brain washed Left wing Parrots and their programmed fear of guns and gun owners!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    Background checks for private transactions will fail.
    January 31, 2013 10:17 am
    Only law abiders will comply and criminals will still have illegal guns. The only thing requiring background checks on private purchases will do is cost the taxpayer another couple of billion dollars a year.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • calapete wrote...
    How so?
    January 31, 2013 10:45 am
    The gun has to be sold from a dealer at first, unless you are making guns in your basement.

    So, the gun dealer is going to have a record of who bought the gun, correct?

    When the gun turns up in a crime, they will go to the last registered owner. That owner is going to have to explain how that gun got in a crime scene. If he sold it without complying with the law, they will arrest him and remove his guns and we will all be safer.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    If only
    January 31, 2013 3:49 pm
    There were a country that just tried gun registration and it failed....hmm I think...its close....like maybe north of the U.S....God my brain hurts!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ratrustle wrote...
    What a diversion!
    January 31, 2013 5:24 pm
    And someone tell me why we're not increasing the penalties for gun crimes? Why we're not doing something about people with mental health issues that have firearms? and why we're so easy on junior gang bangers with guns? I'll answer my own friggin question! It's because it's so much easier to go after legal gun ownership than it is to really solve the problems here!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Truhawk wrote...
    A new law?
    March 6, 2013 11:46 pm
    Here are some stats for those wanting gun registration: Over 76,000 people committed a felony by lying on the form required to purchase a firearm. 17 of those prosecuted. So over 75,983 felons let free by ignoring a law already on the books. How many of those went on to commit a crime with a firearm? Let's make new laws, great idea!? How about enforcing those already on the books?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }