RELEASED: ATF Firearms Commerce In The United States

Since I am getting “mixed” reviews on my cheesy Buddy Cop graphic comedy series, how about a mid-week’s look at some dry accounting numbers? Ok, maybe they aren’t so dry since all of the stats involve guns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has released the latest annual report on Firearms Commerce in the United States. The twenty-two page document is a raw compilation of statistics on the manufacture, transfer, import, export and licensed dealers in the U.S.

Some of the most notable numbers focus on National Fireams Act (NFA) transfer and making tax revenue: $32.5M in 2015. That’s a $10M increase from the year before. Also of note is the dramatic rise in ATF Form 1 (Make an NFA item) and ATF Form 4 (Transfer an NFA item) applications processed – 32K and 130K in 2015 respectively. As we have previously reported, the nation’s largest silencer distributor, Silencer Shop, has acknowledged a similar spike in growth, occupying nearly 50% of all Form 4 applications nationwide.

In terms of tax revenue, $32.5M sounds like a lot but in reality it is pretty short money. Besides, ATF doesn’t see a direct correlation in their budget allotment with the fluctuation of the NFA taxes collected – it all goes directly to the Treasury Department.

Honestly, the numbers aren’t surprising – responsible gun ownership is on the rise in the U.S. as is the appreciation for all types of shooting sports.

Excerpts from the downloadable PDF document on the ATF website: