Some North Texas gun stores sold many guns later used in crimes

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports that gun tracing not only is a way to help identify and capture those who purchase guns illegally, it also is used to identify and alert gun sellers. U.S. gun stores and other licensed dealers associated with a high number of crime gun traces are notified of this by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under a special regulatory program. The “Demand Letter 2? notice is sent to dealers that had 25 or more crime guns traced to them the previous calendar year that were used in a crime within 3 years of original purchase, a concept called “time-to-crime.” Such dealers are then required to periodically supply ATF with additional information. The notice doesn’t necessarily mean the dealer did anything improper. It’s intended to add extra layers of scrutiny to licensed gun sellers that are being targeted by criminals.

Several North Texas gun stores received the notices in 2023, including large chains and independent stores, according to a batch of ATF notices released to USA Today. One such store is WEG’s Guns in Farmers Branch. A Houston man bought a .50-caliber rifle at WEG’s in 2022 with more than $8,600 in cash, court records show. Mexican authorities recovered it more than three months later in Matamoros, Mexico. The buyer pleaded guilty to a charge related to gun straw purchasing and was sentenced in September to time served in a North Texas court, court records show. WEG’s website says it’s a family-run business. Store representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Some dealers say handling a high volume of gun sales naturally leads to more traces. Indeed, national chain stores were among the dealers that received notices in 2023 of crime guns traced to them from Mexico, including at least two Bass Pro Shops stores in North Texas, according to the ATF information obtained by USA Today.