The House Oversight and Reform Committee said Friday it will examine the role of licensed gun dealers who have sold a large number of firearms used in crimes.
Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, Maryland Democrat, sent a letter to Regina Lombardo, the acting deputy director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, seeking documents on dealers whose guns have been used in crimes since 2014.
“The committee is gravely concerned that current law enforcement efforts are not adequately addressing this crisis,” Mr. Cummings wrote.
Mr. Cummings is requesting documents related to the top five federal firearms licenses in each state who sold weapons used in the commission of a crime.
“The committee is seeking to better understand enforcement efforts with respect to [federal firearms licensees] that sell large numbers of guns that used in crimes, including homicides,” he wrote.
In 2018 there were 135,314 federal firearms licensees in the United States, but the ATF conducted inspections only for 7.6% of dealers, Mr. Cummings wrote.
“Even this limited set of inspections identified thousands of potentially serious violations including to properly documents purchaser’s identification, failure to report multiple handgun sales and failure to contact the National Instant Criminal Background Check System,” he wrote.
Mr. Cummings’ review comes in the wake of two mass shootings last weekend that left 31 people dead.
An ATF spokeswoman confirmed the agency received the letter but otherwise declined to comment.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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