The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is a law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury with unique responsibilities dedicated to reducing violent crime, collecting revenue, and protecting the public. ATF enforces the Federal laws and regulations relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives, and arson by working directly and in cooperation with other agencies to suppress and prevent crime and violence through enforcement, regulation, and community outreach; ensures fair and proper revenue collection; provides fair and effective industry regulation; supports and assists Federal, State, local, and international law enforcement; and provides innovative training programs in support of enforcement functions.
Through the aggressive pursuit of its mission, ATF is working for a sound and safer America through innovation and partnerships. ATF recognizes that to achieve its mission, it must deal with the plague of violence that is afflicting the Nation's youth in ever-increasing numbers. As a result, ATF has developed both preventive and enforcement-oriented initiatives to deal with youth violence.
Activities and Priorities Relating to Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Federal laws have historically dealt with juveniles and firearms only in regard to juvenile acquisition of firearms from Federal firearms licensees. In those cases, the law was designed to prevent licensed gun dealers from knowingly selling handguns to persons under the age of 21 and long guns to those under the age of 18. Under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Federal firearms laws deal for the first time with the possession of firearms by juveniles and the illegal transfer of firearms to juveniles. Based on the enactment of these new laws, ATF has made its juvenile firearms initiatives a top priority.
ATF's initiatives also address other issues related to juvenile crime, such as gang and drug involvement; crime, gangs, and drugs in public housing; and firearm trafficking by youth. Programs include the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) Program, the Juvenile Firearms Trace and Illegal Firearms Trafficking Initiative, the Achilles Program, and Project Uptown.
In 1996, ATF entered into a partnership with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and 16 local and city police departments around the country to form the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII). This partnership, spearheaded by ATF, will conduct research and enforcement activities in 16 cities: Birmingham, Alabama; Inglewood, California; Salinas, California; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; St. Louis, Missouri; Jersey City, New Jersey; New York, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; San Antonio, Texas; Richmond, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The extensive research, which will be conducted by NIJ researchers, will provide a comprehensive picture of the illegal flow of firearms to juveniles; juvenile crime patterns, trends, and causes; gang and narcotic influences on juvenile crime; and juvenile firearm preferences in each city. The enforcement effort will consist of ATF special agents and inspectors working with COPS-funded police personnel from each city to investigate and prosecute those portions of the firearms market that are identified as illegal sources of firearms for juveniles. This initiative will last approximately 1 year, and the research results concerning trends in juvenile crime and the juvenile firearms market will be published at the conclusion of the initiative. The findings will shed new light on the epidemic of armed juvenile violence and will help law enforcement agencies develop effective strategies to deal with the problem.
ATF will continue to work toward a sound and safer America through innovation and partnership. In doing so, ATF will to make its juvenile initiatives a top priority. ATF will continue to support other law enforcement agencies by tracing all firearms recovered from juveniles at school or during the commission of a crime when and where requested. When warranted, ATF will continue to investigate those individuals found illegally providing firearms to juveniles and will recommend them to the U.S. Attorney's offices for prosecution. ATF also will analyze juvenile-firearms trace data to determine trends in armed juvenile crime and frequent sources of firearms for juveniles. This information will allow Federal, State, and local law enforcement to more accurately gauge the extent of firearm use by juveniles, to direct resources to maximize impact, and to continuously modify enforcement strategies to meet changing juvenile crime trends.
The following laws deal with the possession, use, and transfer of firearms to juveniles.