Quigley Reintroduces Bill to Stop Black Market Guns

Today, U.S. Representative and Vice-Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Mike Quigley (IL-05) reintroduced the Trafficking Reduction and Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act to help the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reduce the trafficking of illegal firearms and prevent criminals from obtaining these weapons.

By repealing restrictions on gun trace data, the TRACE Act will enable the ATF to track the movement of illegal firearms across state lines and to share that data with state and local law enforcement. The bill will also hold gun dealers accountable by requiring them to monitor their inventory and report lost or stolen inventory to the ATF. The TRACE Act will help law enforcement crack down on the gun ‘black market,’ which often funnels firearms to states and cities with stricter gun laws in place, including Chicago.

Quigley first introduced the TRACE Act in 2011 and has continued to revive the bill in each Congress since. 

“The Chicago Police Department alone recovers roughly 7,000 illegal guns every year, but current law requires gun buyer background check records to be destroyed after 24 hours. My bill will stop the madness and require these background checks to be maintained for at least 180 days,” said Quigley. “I’m proud to reintroduce the TRACE Act this Gun Violence Awareness Month. Together, we can stop guns from ending up in the wrong hands.”

In September 2022, Quigley led and passed the NICS Denial Notification Act as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022. The law now requires background check denials to be reported to state authorities to help enforce gun laws. Quigley also cosponsored the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Passed in June of 2022 with Quigley’s support, the law provided $250M for community violence intervention, $750M for crisis intervention, expanded background checks, closed the “boyfriend” loophole, and more. 

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a key advocate for gun violence prevention, has endorsed the legislation. 

“Huge quantities of firearms are recovered in the illegal market and at crime scenes every year, providing law enforcement the opportunity to trace these weapons and better understand where they are coming from. Yet, Congress has shielded the gun industry from public scrutiny and has deprived law enforcement of key data needed to truly understand and address the flow of crime guns. The TRACE Act will remove these barriers, allowing law enforcement to stymie the flow of firearms into our communities and hold lawbreaking gun industry actors accountable,” said Mark Collins, Director of Federal Policy at Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Brady applauds Rep. Quigley for reintroducing the TRACE Act and is proud to support this legislation.” 

The TRACE Act would:

• Require background check records to be maintained for a minimum of 180 days. The Tiahrt Amendments currently require 24-hour record destruction, making it nearly impossible to catch law-breaking gun dealers who falsify their records or to track straw purchasers who buy guns on behalf of criminals.
• Require gun dealers to perform inventory checks to report lost and stolen guns, a measure currently prohibited under the Tiahrt Amendments. If law-abiding dealers reported inventories, the ATF would be much more effective at identifying lost and stolen weapons and proactively combating corrupt gun dealers.
• Repeal restrictions on gun trace data disclosures. Currently, members of the public, including researchers and litigants, cannot get trace data from the ATF under Tiahrt restrictions. Trace data is also inadmissible as evidence in civil proceedings under the existing policy. The TRACE Act would repeal these restrictions.
• Require that new firearms have a second, hidden serial number located inside the frame or receiver that is only visible under infrared light when the firearm is fully disassembled. This would make it harder for criminals to remove serial numbers from firearms in an attempt to evade law enforcement.

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