ATF DATA Act

HR 4174, the ATF DATA Act, requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to publish detailed annual firearm trace data to the public. This includes information on which gun dealers sold the most firearms traced to crimes (disaggregated by handgun/rifle/shotgun), the average time between a firearm's initial sale and its use in crime ("time-to-crime"), and patterns in trafficking (e.g., multiple sales, lost/stolen guns). The data covers top dealers, high-crime metropolitan areas, privately made firearms, and law enforcement agencies requesting traces. This transparency aims to provide researchers, law enforcement, and the public with concrete information on firearm trafficking without changing gun laws.