Pixabay
Pixabay
CHICAGO - Debate among progressive Illinois policy makers over firearms hasn’t changed much in recent years, but government tracing data shows the firearms of criminals have changed greatly.
Tracings of pistols in the state jumped from 6,041 in 2012 to 15,481 in 2021, while tracings of all other firearm types fell from 5,640 to 3,707.
Tracings of firearms with nine millimeter caliber jumped from 2,205 to 9,444, while all other tracings increased from 9,476 to 9,744.
The average time from the original sale of a firearm to its recovery at a crime scene dropped from 12.9 years to 5.6 years.
The average age of the person in possession fell from 37 years to 32.
About half of all traces came from Chicago each year.
Rockford ranked second each year but its total stayed fairly steady, while traces from Peoria, Springfield and Joliet increased sharply.
East St. Louis ranked sixth in traces at an average of 192 a year.
The data comes from annual reports of the national tracing center in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
“Firearms tracing begins when a law enforcement agency discovers a firearm at a crime scene and seeks to learn the origin or background of that firearm in order to develop investigative leads,” the tracing center’s website states.
It states that the bureau identifies an unlicensed purchaser by tracking a firearm from its manufacturer or its introduction into U. S. commerce.
“That information can help to link a suspect to a firearm in a criminal investigation and identify potential traffickers,” it states.
“All firearms traced must have been used or suspected to have been used in a crime.”
Alerts Sign-up