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9 Investigates: Feds trace weapons to crack major crime ring

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Hundreds of guns have been ripped from businesses, sold on the streets, and even used to kill.

A crime ring dubbed "The Blow Torch Crew" stole guns from 20 shops across the Carolinas and Georgia, burning their way inside to steal weapons.

Eyewitness News Anchor Allison Latos has investigated stolen gun cases for years. 

Now, she got exclusive insider access, learning how one crucial piece of evidence cracked this case.

They tried to target Tina Nichols' store in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

"At one point, they had picked up something and hit the door and bused the door then tried to stick their hand in to get in," Nichols said.

The men stole more than 300 firearms from the store.

But, one gun helped solve the case.

Police pulled over Devonnaire Coffey during a traffic stop in Georgia. He is a convicted felon, not allowed to have weapons.

Senior Special Agent Gerod King said they found a gun in Coffey's vehicle during the stop.

"We were subsequently able to trace this firearm to one of our licensed dealers in Eastern North Carolina," King said.

King said it was the same dealer who had their store broken into by the "Blow Torch Crew."

"It was pivotal, it was the first significant piece of evidence we had that tied someone to the crime," King said.

When police want to track a gun recovered at a crime scene, anywhere in the United States, it happens at the ATF National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Tracing that firearm is one more tool available to law enforcement to help in their investigation. Program manager Neil Troppman told Channel 9's Allison Latos the process is not simple.

Federal laws forbids a database or registry of guns in America. The U.S. Government is not allowed to know which citizens own weapons, a topic frequently debated by Second Amendment supporters and gun control advocates.

So, the ATF has to work differently to connect a crime gun to the buyer, often in urgent and active cases.

These usually include high profile shootings, officer involved shootings, and something that is time sensitive like a kidnapping.

HERE'S HOW A TRACE WORKS: 

  • Police at the crime scene call the ATF with a gun's make, model, and serial number
  • The ATF then contacts the manufacturer to find the wholesaler
  • From the wholesaler, they search for the local gun shop to identify who bought the gun
  • When the ATF calls, retailers may have 24 hours or less to find the document called A Form 4473, which includes personal information about the buyer and their background check.
  • When gun stores close, they must send the records to the ATF -- 2.5 million records arrive at the ATF every month and 10,000 boxes line the tracing center hallways

ATF works search through boxes or records by hand and perform the process nearly 1,500 times a day to track guns and hopefully give police that crucial clue.

236 of the 343 weapons stolen by the "Blow Torch Crew" have been recovered in a dozen states. One was linked to a homicide in Washington.

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