From 2016 to 2021, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received around 45,000 reports of suspected privately made firearms used for illegal activity, including 692 homicides or attempted homicides.
Privately made firearms (PMFs) are guns that have been legally assembled by someone other than a licensed manufacturer. These include “buy-build-shoot kits,” which contain dissembled firearms that someone can assemble at home. People can also legally make guns with a 3D printer.
The number of privately made firearms that law enforcement entities submitted to the ATF rose from 6,000 in 2019 to more than 19,000 in 2021.
PMFs are also known as “ghost guns” because they often lack a serial number that normally comes with a firearm from a licensed manufacturers. Likewise, PMFs could have counterfeit or duplicative markings that are easy to mistake for authentic serial numbers, making them difficult to trace if used in a crime. To wit: from 2017 to 2021, the ATF traced approximately 1% of submitted PMFs to their original purchasers.
In 2022, the Justice Department made PMFs subject to the same rules as traditional firearms, meaning buy-build-shoot kit manufacturers must serialize their firearms. It also means sellers must conduct background checks, among other requirements.
The growing number of firearms submitted for tracing indicates both criminal use of PMFs are on the rise, as is awareness among local, state, and international law enforcement agencies.
In 2021, the ATF trained more than 1,700 law enforcement agencies on PMF identification.
From 2017 to 2021, the ATF successfully traced approximately 1% of submitted PMFs to their original purchasers.
In 2022, the Justice Department made PMFs subject to the same rules as traditional firearms, meaning manufacturers of buy-build-shoot kits now need to serialize their firearms and sellers must conduct background checks, among other requirements.
The increase in trace submissions indicates both a rising trend in the criminal use of PMFs and increased awareness of PMFs among local, state, and international law enforcement agencies, for whom the ATF has conducted trainings since 2020.
In 2021, the ATF trained more than 1,700 law enforcement agencies on PMF identification.
What is the most popular privately made firearm?
Pistols comprised 59% of all PMFs traced by the bureau from 2017 to 2021.
However, privately made pistols weren’t always this common. In 2017, rifles made up 35% of all recovered PMFs, while pistols made up 19%. The share of recovered PMF rifles has declined since then, from 30% in 2018 to 10% in 2021.
Law enforcement’s ability to properly identify PMFs still remains limited, leading the ATF to conclude that the current data undercounts the actual number of PMFs recovered in crimes.
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Read data analyses written by the USAFacts team.
Page sources and methodology
All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
PART III: Crime Guns Recovered and Traced Within the United States and Its Territories
