[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 108 (Thursday, July 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S5962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         CRIME GUN TRACING ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to speak about a new bill I have 
introduced called the Crime Gun Tracing Act. This bill will create a 
strong incentive for police departments and sheriff's offices across 
the nation to trace every crime gun they recover. I am pleased that my 
colleagues Senators Feinstein, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Levin, Boxer, 
Jack Reed and Murphy have joined me as cosponsors of this legislation. 
I thank them for their support.
  The issue of gun regulation is complicated, and people may not always 
agree on all aspects of it. But one thing we can all agree on is the 
need to reduce criminal gun violence. Far too many violent shootings 
are taking place across America. We need to catch the criminals who 
commit violent gun crimes, and we need to identify and stop the people 
who are putting guns in criminals' hands.
  Crime gun tracing is a powerful tool that helps law enforcement solve 
gun crimes and identify gun traffickers. Law enforcement agencies 
should be tracing 100 percent of guns they recover in criminal 
investigations, and the legislation I am introducing will help get us 
closer to that goal.
  Here is how crime gun tracing works. When a gun is recovered in a 
criminal investigation, a police department or sheriff's office can 
send the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives--ATF--
information about the gun's make, model and serial number. ATF can then 
trace the gun from its manufacturer to its first retail purchaser. This 
information can help generate leads in identifying the person who used 
the gun to commit a crime. Also, when all crime guns in an area are 
traced, it can help law enforcement identify broader crime gun trends 
and trafficking patterns.
  ATF has described crime gun tracing as a ``cornerstone'' of its 
efforts to combat gun crime and illegal gun trafficking. And ATF has 
made it free and easy for local police departments and sheriff's 
offices to trace guns. ATF has created an online tracing program, 
called E-Trace, that it makes available for free to any law enforcement 
agency that signs up for it. E-Trace allows gun trace requests to be 
sent to ATF quickly over the internet. And it provides a searchable 
computer database that police departments and sheriffs can use to 
analyze all gun traces and gun crimes in their jurisdiction.
  Let us be clear: This is only a database for crime guns. This is not 
a registry of law-abiding gun owners. ATF only traces guns that are 
part of criminal investigations by law enforcement.
  E-Trace is a great law enforcement tool. I have been working for 
years to get every police department and sheriff's office in Illinois 
to sign up for E-Trace and to use it for every crime gun they recover.
  We are about halfway there in Illinois--around 400 out of 800 law 
enforcement agencies in my state are using E-Trace, and I am reaching 
out to the rest to urge them to sign up. But we can do better, both in 
Illinois and nationally.
  I am introducing my bill, the Crime Gun Tracing Act, to help move us 
toward 100 percent tracing of crime guns nationwide. There are about 
18,000 law enforcement agencies in America, and right now about 4,700 
have signed up to use E-Trace. All of these agencies should sign up to 
use E-Trace and should use it every time they recover a crime gun.
  My bill will require law enforcement agencies that apply for Federal 
COPS grants to report how many crime guns they recovered in the last 
year and how many they submitted for tracing. The bill will then give a 
preference in COPS grant awards to agencies that traced all the crime 
guns they recovered.
  To be clear, police chiefs and sheriffs should not just wait for this 
legislation to pass before they start tracing. They should start 
tracing today, and I hope many will. But for those local agencies that 
need a push to start tracing their crime guns, my bill will give them a 
significant incentive.
  Gun violence is a complicated problem, and there is no one solution 
that will stop all the tragic shootings in our nation. But 
comprehensive crime gun tracing will make a big difference when it 
comes to solving gun crimes and identifying gun traffickers. Crime gun 
tracing is free, it is easy, and law enforcement leaders will tell you 
that it is a powerful tool that helps them fight crime.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. And I 
also urge my colleagues to call on law enforcement in their States to 
start tracing all their crime guns, as I have done in Illinois. Many 
police departments and sheriff's offices simply do not know about this 
free law enforcement resource called E-Trace, and once they learn how 
easy it is to sign up and use E-Trace, they are thrilled with it.
  We can make important progress on the issue of crime gun tracing 
right now if we alert all our State and local agencies about this 
powerful investigative tool. Every additional crime gun that gets 
traced makes it harder for illegal gun traffickers to hide. If we can 
identify and root out these trafficking networks, it will help reduce 
gun violence in our communities. That is a goal we should pursue, and I 
urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

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