Thousands of Americans have a federal license to manufacture firearms, yet relatively few produce any guns according to America’s Hidden Gun Manufacturers, a new study from the Violence Policy Center (VPC). Instead, the license can be used to bypass requirements that apply to unlicensed individuals buying a gun, such as background checks. In addition, license holders can purchase firearms interstate from wholesalers at discount and in unlimited quantities and, by paying additional fees to the government, undercut the tight restrictions on the sale and possession of new fully automatic machine guns and firearm silencers. The license, known as a Type 07 Federal Firearms License (FFL), is issued by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In 2022, 18,784 Type 07 licenses were issued by ATF, an increase of more than 5,000% since the 364 issued in 1975.
The rise is fed in part by commercial sites that sell online kits catering to private citizens who want to obtain a federal license for personal use, usually operating out of their homes. Using ATF’s FFL database and Google Earth, VPC reviewed the “place of business” for Type 07 license holders in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (chosen for their historic role in illegal cross-border gun trafficking to Mexico) manufacturing fewer than 10 guns in 2020. This snapshot found that for a significant number of these Type 07 license holders the “place of business” was a residential property, in a residential neighborhood, with no easily discernable signage. It is unlikely that the presence of the manufacturer would be easily recognized by sight by residents or state and local authorities in charge of zoning, business, or licensing regulations or laws. VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann said, “Across our nation, nearly 20,000 Americans possess a federal license to manufacture firearms. Yet little is known about how these license holders are actually using the powers associated with the license. We know the vast majority aren’t actually manufacturing guns, so what are they doing? It’s long past time for the federal government, local communities, and their fellow citizens to find out.”
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