Huge Number Of Illegal Guns In Portland Come From Licensed Dealers, New Report Shows

Firearms dealers are very loosely regulated and are the origin of the majority of guns used in crimes in Portland, an Oregon nonprofit has found. 

The nonprofit Alliance for a Safe Oregon is countering the popular narrative that most firearms used in crimes are stolen from registered owners or smuggled into the country from foreign sources. 

“We are actually contributing to firearms being contributed to Mexico, as well as other states – meaning Oregon is actually contributing to gun violence nationally and internationally,” Asianique Savage, Metro area program director for Alliance for a Safe Oregon, said during a press conference on Tuesday. 

The organization analyzed data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for the state of Oregon between 2017 and 2021. 

ATF found that more than 26,000 firearms were recovered by Oregon law enforcement in connection with crime, an average of 100 a week. More than 55% of those weapons were purchased from licensed firearms dealers – and in most cases, those dealers were located within 25 miles of where the crime was committed. 

“This means three out of four crime guns traced to a known purchaser were originally purchased in state gun dealers,” Savage said.

“In addition, we found 87 incidents of theft from Oregon dealers where hundreds of firearms have been stolen from dealers.”

“Data and information about the sources of trafficked firearms and crime guns is incredibly important to developing and implementing impactful policies that reduce gun crime,” Josh Scharff, who acts as general counsel and senior director of programs at the nonprofit Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said. “The gun lobby, though, has gone to extraordinary lengths to hide this type of data from researchers, from journalists, from policymakers and from the general public. So we need more reports like this.”

The Important Role Of Dealers

“Gun dealers are often and really rightfully described as the nation’s gatekeepers of firearms, and that they’re on the frontline of preventing gun trafficking,” Scharff said. “Under federal law, gun dealers must hold a federal firearms license and they are the point of the distribution chain when a firearm is transferred out of the licensed market and to an unlicensed member of the public. They have the responsibility to screen for straw purchases and other risky transactions, and to ensure that guns are not diverted to the illegal market.”

Despite federal-level regulations, a critically understaffed AFT is unable to perform regular inspections of the up to 80,000 licensed gun dealers, pawn shops and manufacturers in the country, Scharff said. 

“Last year, ATF conducted less than 8,700 compliance inspections,” he added. “Historically in these inspections, ATF finds violations of our firearms laws in just under half (of the sites inspected). Last year ATF only revoked the federal firearms licensees in less than 2% of its inspections.”

That has arguably emboldened less scrupulous firearms dealers. 

“To put a fine point on those numbers, if you are a gun business in this country, you can on average expect a federal inspection maybe once a decade,” Scharff said.

“And even if you are found to be violating the law, it is extremely unlikely that there will be any serious federal enforcement action against you.” 

Between inspections, Oregon dealers can still come under federal scrutiny. Firearms recovered by law enforcement are flagged when they have a short period of time between sale and criminal use, also known as “time to crime” – about three years. The ATF tracks each dealer in those cases. Firearm dealers who have more than 25 such infractions are given a Demand Letter 2 designation, allowing them to identify dealers whose noncompliance with gun laws have a greater impact on gun violence. 

(L to R) Asianique Savage, Metro area program director for Alliance for a Safe Oregon; Jess Marks, executive director of Alliance for a Safe Oregon; and Josh Scharff, general counsel and senior director of programs at Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
The Oregon Alliance supplied a list of 15 Portland-area gun retailers and pawn shops in the Demand Letter 2 database. Two of them are located in Northeast Portland. 

“The research on crime guns and gun trafficking makes two things absolutely clear,” Scharff said. “First, gun dealer business practices matter. Responsible gun dealers that adopt safe business practices regarding the sale of firearms, regarding inventory security and controls and regarding employee training – those gun dealers sell fewer if any crime guns. 

“Second, states that better regulate gun industry business practices – and that includes, importantly, states that enforce their laws through licensing and inspecting the gun industry themselves – those states are the source of fewer trafficked firearms.” 

Scharff warned that federal-level gun regulation was likely to weaken under the second Trump administration. 

“What’s really concerning is that these federal numbers are actually a significant improvement in the number of inspections and enforcement actions taken by ATF,” he said. “That improvement is due to a concerted effort by the Biden administration to strengthen the inspection program. But we expect these numbers to get much worse in the coming years.”

A Law In Limbo

The organization’s analysis bolsters arguments for strengthened regulation of gun sales, a sentiment shared by the Oregon voters who passed Measure 114 in 2022. The law specifies that a gun sold in Oregon cannot hold more than 10 rounds in its magazine, requires a permit to purchase a gun – which requires a gun safety class and closes a loophole that allows a purchaser to acquire the gun after three business days, even in the background check is not yet complete. 

The law was almost immediately challenged in court by gun store owners. Earlier this month the Oregon Court of Appeals heard arguments from both the state and an attorney representing the gun owners who first filed the challenge. Measure 114 has yet to take effect.

“To counteract the weak federal regulations, other states have taken meaningful action,” Jess Marks, executive director of Alliance for a Safe Oregon, said. “Evidence shows that those states have significantly lower rates of crime gun trafficking and have been able to reduce firearm-related deaths. In fact, states with the strongest state licensing and inspection programs have seen a more than 35% reduction in gun homicides.”

Demythifying Gun Crime

Savage explained that in addition to data-collection, her organization conducted informational interviews with Oregon law enforcement, community members and firearm dealers. 

“One story we heard from a community member who purchased a straw gun for a person she had walked in the gun dealer shop with – someone who was ultimately not able to purchase a gun legally for themselves – was that she bought the gun for them even though the dealer watched while the prohibited purchaser picked out the firearm and paid for it.”

“Straw purchasers” are individuals able to pass background checks who purchase guns for a third party – an individual who is prohibited from owning a firearm, or even a black market seller.

Such a practice contributes to gun trafficking on a large scale: In Portland, one "straw purchaser" was found to have bought 64 firearms in a 15-month span – firearms which were then dispersed to local gang members. He purchased 46 of those from a single dealer.

Corruption and sloppy business practices can flourish in such an under-regulated industry. State-level regulation and licensing could drastically curb illegal sales, Marks said. 

“To stop the flow of illegal guns and to reduce gun homicides, the state should consider the following: First, state-level licensing with required annual reporting,” Marks said. “Second, inventory control with required tracking and reporting of inventory. The state should also look at mandated secure storage of inventory and security practices, such as cameras at points of sale to deter theft and trafficking. The state should require employees who are selling firearms to have background checks, and train employees to recognize straw gun purchases. And finally, the state must have inspections in order to hold, in particular, bad actors accountable.”

Her organization recommends the state engage with law enforcement and law-abiding gun dealers who are in compliance with federal regulations.  

“We have seen consistent support across the state for improvement of this kind of licensing and regulation,” Marks said. “We really consistently have seen that Oregonians support this policy that is about holding an industry to the same kind of basic business practices that other industries have. It shouldn’t be easier to run a gun shop in Oregon than it is to run a taco truck.”