Recovery of Crime Guns in Massachusetts
2022
Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
June 2023
Maura Healey, Governor
Terrence M. Reidy, Secretary of Public Safety and Security
 Recovery of Crime Guns in Massachusetts 2022
Overview
Pursuant to line item 8000-0600 of the fiscal 2018 state budget, the Executive Office of Public Safety and
Security (EOPSS) has conducted an analysis under section M.G.L. c. 140, § 131Q, of the Massachusetts
General Laws to determine: (i) the effectiveness of current reporting mechanisms for lost and stolen guns,
including by identifying the number of guns traced to crime that were reported lost or stolen prior to their
use in the commission of a crime; and (ii) firearm purchase and sales patterns as they relate to firearms
traced to crime, including an analysis of the number of guns traced to a crime that were originally purchased
from each licensed gun dealer in the commonwealth or purchased through a secondary private seller. The
exact statute reads:
Section 131Q. A firearm, rifle or shotgun, large capacity weapon, machine gun or assault
weapon used to carry out a criminal act shall be traced by the licensing authority for the city or
town in which the crime took place. The licensing authority shall report statistical data, when the
data is readily available as determined by the chief of police, including, but not limited to: (i) the
make, model, serial number and caliber of the weapon used; (ii) the type of crime committed; (iii)
whether an arrest or conviction was made; (iv) whether fingerprint evidence was found on the
firearm; (v) whether ballistic evidence was retrieved from the crime scene; (vi) whether the
criminal use of the firearm was related to known gang activity; (vii) whether the weapon was
obtained illegally; (viii) whether the weapon was lost or stolen; and (ix) whether the person using
the weapon was otherwise a prohibited person.
The data shall be reported to the commonwealth fusion center or the criminal firearms and
trafficking unit within the division of investigation and intelligence in the department of state
police established pursuant to section 6 of chapter 22C. The colonel of state police shall produce
an annual report by December 31 of each year regarding crimes committed in the commonwealth
using firearms, rifles or shotguns, large capacity weapons, machine guns or assault weapons,
including all of the categories of data contained in this section, and shall submit a copy of the
report to the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, the clerks of the house of
representatives and the senate and, upon request, to criminology, public policy and public health
researchers and other law enforcement agencies.
Methodology and Data Collection
Information on lost or stolen firearms is currently collected in several locations. Under M.G.L. c. 140, §
29C, in the case of loss, theft or recovery of any firearm, rifle, shotgun or machine gun, a report shall be
made forthwith to both the commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services
(DCJIS) and the licensing authority in the city or town where the owner resides. In addition to reporting
the lost or stolen firearm to DCJIS, a lost or stolen firearm is often reported by the reporting agency to the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a computerized index of criminal justice information hosted
by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). When a police officer recovers a firearm, one of the steps
2 Recovery of Crime Guns in MA | EOPSS
they often take is running a check of the serial number through NCIC to determine if the firearm has been
reported lost or stolen. The check will reveal if the firearm is reported lost or stolen and, if so, the
jurisdiction in which the report was made. The officer should then include this information in the entry
into the Commonwealth Fusion Center’s Crime Gun Tracking System, created through M.G.L. c. 140, §
131Q. The law directs firearms licensing authorities within the Commonwealth to annually report to the
Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police certain data related to crime gun seizures within their jurisdiction.
Data on crime guns being sold or registered in Massachusetts was compiled by comparing serial numbers
in the crime gun database against registered firearms in the Massachusetts Gun Transaction Portal and
Massachusetts Instant Record Check System (MIRCS) maintained by DCJIS. For the purpose of this
analysis, it is possible that a recovered firearm could have been registered or sold multiple times, thus
creating multiple records for a single firearm.
Firearms Reported Lost or Stolen in Massachusetts
Since 2015, Massachusetts law enforcement agencies have been reporting crime gun seizures to the
Commonwealth Fusion Center. As outreach and training continues, the number of contributing agencies
increases. In 2016, 9.57% of 972 reported crime guns were reported as lost or stolen as of the time of
recovery. In 2017, this rate rose to 13.01% of 1,752 reported crime guns and then fell to 11.25% of 1,946
reported crime guns in 2018. The percentage being reported to the Fusion Center as lost or stolen fell
slightly to 10.59% of 1,832 reported crime guns in 2019, even further to 9.15% of 1,945 crime guns in
2020. In 2021 and 2022 the rates were 7.6% of 2,330 guns in 2021 and 7.6% of 2,419 guns in 2022. The
Fusion Center received information on firearms recovered in 148 different jurisdictions in 2022, down from
153 in 2021.
Figure 1. Status of Crime Guns Reported to Commonwealth Fusion Center
Status of Crime Gun 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
LOST 6 5 13 10 3 9 9 55
STOLEN 87 223 206 184 175 168 192 1,235
UNKNOWN 879 1,524 1,727 1,638 1,767 2,153 2,218 11,906
TOTAL 972 1,752 1,946 1,832 1,945 2,330 2,419 13,196
Data Source: MA Crime Gun Tracking System
Massachusetts police agencies reported 3,323 total firearms as lost or stolen to NCIC between 2016 - 2022;
this includes all firearms, not just crime guns.
Figure 2: Lost or Stolen Firearms Reported to NCIC by MA Agencies
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
Lost or Stolen Firearms 530 597 529 417 388 358 504 3,323
Data Source: NCIC
3 Recovery of Crime Guns in MA | EOPSS
There were nineteen agencies reporting seven or more lost or stolen firearms to NCIC in 2022, up from 13
in 2021:
Figure 3. Agencies Reporting 7 or More Stolen Firearms
Jurisdiction Total
FALL RIVER 38
FBI 37
SPRINGFIELD 20
BROCKTON 18
BOSTON 17
WESTFIELD 16
FOXBORO 15
WORCESTER 15
LYNN 14
PITTSFIELD 11
NEW BEDFORD 11
CHICOPEE 10
NATICK 10
HOLYOKE 9
SOUTHWICK 9
LEOMINSTER 9
MA STATE POLICE 9
BILLERICA 8
LEICESTER 7
Data Source: NCIC
Crime Guns Reported to the Fusion Center
A total of 2,419 gun seizures were reported to the Commonwealth Fusion Center with a seizure date of
2022. Of crime guns reported during 2022, approximately 75% were connected to an arrest. This percentage
has remained consistent over the past five years never going up or down by more than 2%. While fingerprint
testing is pending on many crime guns reported in 2022, 24.1% of those that have completed testing yielded
fingerprint evidence. In cases where the data was available, 15.8% of crime guns reported in 2022 were
related to known gang activity and 72.6% were used by prohibited persons, a term defined in M.G.L. c.
140, § 131. Approximately 82% of recovered crime guns were listed as pistols or revolvers. The number
of pistols and revolvers would be even higher if the number of ghost guns and privately made firearms that
fell into these categories could be calculated. Ghost guns and privately made firearms accounted for
approximately 164 firearms or 6.8 % of recovered firearms when examining the data by weapon type.
When, searching other fields for common terms associated with ghost guns the number increases to 316
4 Recovery of Crime Guns in MA | EOPSS
ghost guns or privately made firearms. This equates to approximately 13% of crime guns being ghost guns
or privately made firearms.
Figure 4: Recovered Weapon Types
Weapon Type Total
PISTOL 1,856
REVOLVER 139
RIFLE 111
GHOST GUN 89
PRIVATELY MADE FIREARM 75
SHOTGUN 73
ASSAULT RIFLE 46
OTHER 22
SHOTGUN SAWED OFF 4
STUN GUN TASER 3
MACHINE GUN 1
Total 2,419
Data Source: MA Crime Gun Tracking System
Crime Guns in MIRCS
Matching serial numbers in the Crime Gun Tracking System against MIRCS resulted in 636 records. This
should not be considered 636 individual firearms, but 636 instances where there was a match between the
two sets of data. For example, it is possible a firearm that was recovered after an aggravated assault had
been purchased from a dealer and then sold or transferred multiple times. The number of individual crime
guns that were located in MIRCS was 438 up from 352 in 2021.
Figure 5: Transaction Type for Crime Guns
Transaction Type Total
Loss/Theft 1
Personal Sale/Transfer 116
Registration 52
Sale 467
Total 636
Data Source: DCJIS
Of the 636 matching records, 470 contained dealer information while 100 transactions contained personal
information of a known seller; these numbers closely track the above transaction types. Thirty-two
dealers in 29 communities had more than five transactions involving crime guns. For a complete list of
dealers with transactions involving crime guns during 2022, see Appendix Table 1.
5 Recovery of Crime Guns in MA | EOPSS
 Appendix
6 Recovery of Crime Guns in MA | EOPSS
 Table 1. Dealers with Transactions Involving Crime Guns
Dealer Name Total Crime Gun Transactions Town Total 2022 Sales
FOUR SEASONS 41 WOBURN 11,631
GUNS INC. 32 WEST SPRINGFIELD 978
MASS FIREARMS SCHOOL 24 HOLLISTON 4,695
THE GUN PARLOR 20 WORCESTER 4,223
J&J ARMS LLC 13 DEDHAM 1,191
ON TARGET FIREARMS OF DRACUT 13 DRACUT 2,839
STEVES FIREARM INSTRUCTION LLC 12 STOUGHTON 1,944
CABELAS WHOLESALE LLC 11 BERLIN 1,039
DOWNRANGE INC 11 HYANNIS 5,027
OUTERLIMITS LLC 11 HOLBROOK 2,402
ARMOR BEARER SPORTS 9 SPRINGFIELD 2,203
WEBSTER LAKE SPORTING INC. DBA BOBS GUN AND ARCHERY 9 WEBSTER 1,109
BASS PRO SHOP 8 FOXBOROUGH 5,785
DECKER ENTERPRISES INC. DBA/PETES GUN SHOP 8 ADAMS 1,721
THE SPORTSMANS DEN 8 QUINCY 1,111
COLLECTOR'S COIN GALLERY 7 STONEHAM 1,169
GUNS AND GEAR LLC 7 AGAWAM 160
HUNTER'S TRADING POST, LTD. 7 WEYMOUTH 1,751
NORTHEAST ARMS LLC 7 PEABODY 1,140
POWDERHORN OUTFITTERS 7 HYANNIS 1,252
EAST MOUNTAIN WOODWORKING LLP 6 HOLYOKE 118
GFA ARMS / GREGS REPAIR SERVICE 6 NATICK 540
GUNS AND GUN PARTS 6 WEST SPRINGFIELD 411
M & M PLIMOTH BAY OUTFITTERS, INC. 6 PLYMOUTH 601
NICK'S SPORT SHOP INC. 6 PALMER 1,896
NORTHEAST TRADING CO, INC. 6 NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH 325
VILLAGE SPORTS 6 WESTPORT 1,710
HARDLINE FIREARMS LLC 5 BRIDGEWATER 150
MAGNUM ENTERPRISES, LLC 5 ORANGE 608
ON TARGET TRAINING INC 5 EAST BRIDGEWATER 1,151
PUBLIC SAFETY ARMORY LLC 5 REHOBETH 250
SHOOTING SUPPLY 5 WESTPORT 2,301
LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT INC 4 WALTHAM 339
NORTH SHORE FIREARMS, LLC 4 MIDDLETON 1,376
PIONEER VALLEY ARMS 4 EAST LONGMEADOW 2,664
THE GUN RACK 4 TURNERS FALLS 3,431
ZERO HOUR ARMS 4 SOUTH EASTON 0
AJS FIREARMS 3 ACUSHNET 0
BLUE NORTHERN TRADING COMPANY 3 AYER 0
CULVERINE FIREARMS 3 FEEDING HILLS 1,164
J&S GUNS AND AMMO 3 ACUSHNET 708
R & R GUN SALES 3 BELCHERTOWN 1,398
THE GUNRUNNER LLC 3 MIDDLEBOROUGH 846
TOMBSTONE TRADING COMPANY 3 BROOKFIELD 1,530
TROY CITY TACTICAL 3 FALL RIVER 571
WAYNE'S WEAPONRY 3 WEST BOYLSTON 0
AVID SPORTS 2 PITTSFIELD 1,156
B&K SALES, LLC 2 NATICK 5