Firearms Trace Data: Mexico - 2017-2022

Data Source: Firearms Tracing System

January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2022 (as of March 10, 2023)

Contents

  1. ATF Firearms Trace Data Disclaimer
  2. Introduction
  3. Analytical Criteria Used to Compile the Mexico Trace Statistics
  4. Table: Firearms Recovered in Mexico and Submitted to ATF for Tracing
  5. Table: U.S. Sourced Firearms Recovered in Mexico and Submitted to ATF for Tracing
  6. Table: Types of Firearms Recovered in Mexico and Submitted to ATF for Tracing 
     

ATF Firearms Trace Data Disclaimer

Firearm traces are designed to assist law enforcement authorities in conducting investigations by tracking the sale and possession of specific firearms. Law enforcement agencies may request firearms traces for any investigative reason, and those reasons are not necessarily reported to the federal government. Not all firearms used in crime are traced and not all firearms traced are used in crime.

Firearms selected for tracing are not chosen for purposes of determining which types, makes or models of firearms are used for illicit purposes. The firearms selected do not constitute a random sample and should not be considered representative of the larger universe of all firearms used by criminals, or any subset of that universe. Firearms are normally traced to the first retail seller, and sources reported for firearms traced do not necessarily represent the sources or methods by which firearms in general are acquired for use in crime.
 

Introduction

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Tracing Center (NTC) is the nation’s only crime gun tracing facility. As such, the NTC provides critical information that helps domestic and international law enforcement agencies solve firearms crimes, detect firearms trafficking and identify trends with respect to intrastate, interstate and international movement of crime guns.

For calendar year (CY) 2017, the NTC traced more than 400,000 firearms; for CY 2018, more than 425,000 firearms; for CY 2019, more than 438,000 firearms; for CY 2020, more than 484,000 firearms; for CY 2021, more than 543,000 firearms; and for CY 2022, more than 599,000 firearms. Over this time period, the NTC has traced firearms for the United States and 133 other countries, including Mexico.

Firearms tracing is the systematic tracking of the movement of a firearm from its first sale by a manufacturer or importer through the distribution chain in an attempt to identify the first retail purchaser, in order to provide investigative leads for criminal investigations.

After the firearm is recovered and the identifiers are forwarded to the NTC, ATF contacts the manufacturer or importer to ascertain the sale or transfer of the firearm. ATF will attempt to contact all ensuing federal firearms licensees (wholesale/retail) in the distribution chain until a purchaser is identified or the trace process cannot continue due to a lack of accurate or complete information on the trace request or in the federal firearms licensee’s records. The success of a trace result, whether domestic or international, relies upon the accuracy of the supplied firearm identifiers. The necessary identifiers for a trace include manufacturer, importer (if applicable), model, caliber and serial number.

This report relates only to those firearms recovered in Mexico and traced by ATF. The firearm trace results are based upon the supplied firearm identifiers on the Mexico trace requests. The Mexican trace data in this report is organized by the calendar year in which the firearm was recovered, not the year in which the trace was initiated.

For example, if a firearm was recovered in 2022 but the trace was not initiated until 2023, the data will be organized in the year of recovery, 2022. Organization by recovery date provides valuable investigative leads as well as more specific trend data. Therefore, using this example, if a firearm for which a trace is initiated in later years is determined to have been recovered in 2022, the raw trace numbers for 2022 will increase in subsequent trace data reports. As a result, the trace numbers for each calendar year may fluctuate, necessitating changes to prior years’ trace numbers in future reports. If a recovery date is not provided for a firearm, trace data for that firearm is organized by the calendar year in which the trace was entered into the Firearms Tracing System by ATF.
 

Analytical Criteria Used to Compile the Mexico Trace Statistics

All of the attached trace statistics had the following selection criteria in common:

  • Traces with a recovery country of Mexico were included.
  • Traces with a recovery date between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2022 were included.
    • If a recovery date was not provided, traces with an entered date between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2022 were included.
      • In CY 2017, 99.5% of all Mexico traces listed a recovery date.
      • In CY 2018, 99.8% of all Mexico traces listed a recovery date.
      • In CY 2019, 99.9% of all Mexico traces listed a recovery date.
      • In CY 2020, 99.9% of all Mexico traces listed a recovery date.
      • In CY 2021, 97.2% of all Mexico traces listed a recovery date.
      • In CY 2022, 89.1% of all Mexico traces listed a recovery date.
  • Duplicate traces were not included. A duplicate is a trace request for the same recovery of a firearm that was previously traced.
  • All traces may not have been submitted or completed at the time of this analysis.
  • Statistics are based on a query of the Firearms Tracing System on March 10, 2023.
  • Due to rounding, some percentages may not correspond with the sum of the separate percentages.
     

Firearms Recovered in Mexico
and Submitted to ATF for Tracing

Calendar YearS 2017 - 2022
Calendar Year CY 2017 CY 2018 CY 2019 CY 2020 CY 2021 CY 2022
  # of Traces % of all Traces # of Traces % of all Traces # of Traces % of all Traces # of Traces % of all Traces # of Traces % of all Traces # of Traces % of all Traces
Category – U.S. Sourced Firearms
Manufactured in the United States 8,166 50.6 9,741 50.1 10,399 49.4 10,142 49.1 10,776 49.4 11,916 48.4
Imported into the United States 2,992 18.5 3,652 18.8 3,881 18.4 3,864 18.7 3,797 17.4 4,234 17.2
Subtotal 11,158 69.2 13,393 68.9 14,280 67.8 14,006 67.8 14,573 66.8 16,150 65.5
Category – Undetermined Source Country for Firearms
Non-U.S. Manufacturer 2,867 17.8 3,275 16.8 3,524 16.7 3,167 15.3 3,540 16.2 4,025 16.3
Undetermined Country of Origin 2,108 13.1 2,770 14.3 3,267 15.5 3,481 16.9 3,690 16.9 4,467 18.1
Subtotal 4,975 30.8 6,045 31.1 6,791 32.2 6,648 32.2 7,230 33.2 8,492 34.5
Total
 16,133   19,438   21,071   20,654   21,803   24,642  

Scroll horizontally if needed to view full table.

This chart is based upon firearms recovered in Mexico in a particular year and submitted to ATF for tracing.

  • The category "U.S. Sourced Firearms" refers to those firearms that were determined by ATF to be manufactured in the U.S. or legally imported into the U.S. by a federal firearms licensee.
  • "Manufactured in the United States" refers to those firearms that were determined by ATF to be manufactured in the U.S. by a federal firearms licensee (manufacturer).
  • "Imported into the United States" refers to those firearms that were determined by ATF to be legally imported into the U.S. by a federal firearms licensee (importer). Foreign manufactured firearms that are legally imported into the U.S. require that the importer name be stamped (impressed) on the firearm (27 C.F.R. Section 478.92). The firearm is traced by ATF through the U.S.‐based importer, not the foreign manufacturer.
  • The category “Undetermined Source Country for Firearms” refers to those firearms in which the trace request did not provide sufficient information in order for ATF to determine a source country.
  • "Non‐U.S. Manufacturer" refers to those firearms in which the trace request indicated a non‐U.S. (foreign) manufacturer and a U.S. firearms importer was either not listed (possible omission of the trace requestor) or not required (a foreign manufactured firearm that never legally entered U.S. commerce and therefore would not bear the identifying stamp of a U.S. firearms importer). ATF is unable to determine if these non‐U.S. (foreign) manufactured firearms were imported directly into Mexico, or if the firearms were legally imported into the U.S. or went to another country and then made their way to Mexico by legal or illegal means.
  • "Undetermined Country of Origin" refers to those firearms in which the trace request was unclear as to the manufacturer, country of origin and the importer. ATF is unable to determine the firearm's manufacturer, or if the firearms were imported directly into Mexico, or if the firearms were legally imported into the U.S. or went to another country and then made their way to Mexico by legal or illegal means.
  • "Total" refers to all firearms recovered in Mexico in a particular calendar year and submitted to ATF for tracing.
     

U.S. Sourced Firearms Recovered in Mexico
and Submitted to ATF for Tracing

Calendar YearS 2017 - 2022
Calendar Year CY 2017 CY 2018 CY 2019 CY 2020 CY 2021 CY 2022
  # of Traces % of U.S. Sourced Traces # of Traces % of U.S. Sourced Traces # of Traces % of U.S. Sourced Traces # of Traces % of U.S. Sourced Traces # of Traces % of U.S. Sourced Traces # of Traces % of U.S. Sourced Traces
Category – U.S. Sourced Firearms
Traced to a Retail Purchaser 5,356 48.0 6,617 49.4 6,799 47.6 7,239 51.7 7,435 51.0 8,168 50.6
Traced to a Foreign Country 245 2.2 307 2.3 373 2.6 308 2.2 465 3.2 509 3.2
Unable to Determine a Purchaser 5,557 49.8 6,469 48.3 7,108 49.8 6,459 46.1 6,673 45.8 7,473 46.3
Total
 11,158   13,393   14,280   14,006   14,573   16,150  

Scroll horizontally if needed to view full table.

This chart is based upon the U.S. sourced firearms from the chart above entitled "Firearms Recovered in Mexico and Submitted to ATF for Tracing". The total does not include trace numbers from the category "Undetermined Source Country for Firearms".

  • The category "U.S. Sourced Firearms" refers to those firearms that were determined by ATF to be manufactured in the U.S. or legally imported into the U.S. by a federal firearms licensee.
  • "Traced to a Retail Purchaser" refers to those traces in which ATF could determine the first retail purchaser, that is, a sale executed on an ATF Firearms Transaction Record (ATF Form 4473) from a U.S. federal firearms licensee to a purchaser in the U.S. (As a comparison, for firearms recovered in the U.S. and traced to a retail purchaser, the average percentage for firearms traced for the time period CY 2017 - CY 2022 is approximately 77%).
  • "Traced to a Foreign Country" refers to those firearms that were determined by ATF to be transferred from a U.S. federal firearms licensee to a foreign government, law enforcement, dealer or entity.
  • "Unable to Determine a Purchaser" refers to those firearms that were manufactured in/imported into the U.S. but ATF was unable to determine the first retail purchaser through the trace process. Common reasons ATF is unable to identify a purchaser:
    • Incomplete firearms identifying data on the trace request form
    • Incomplete or never received out‐of‐business federal firearms licensee records (upon discontinuance of business by a federal firearms licensee, the records shall be delivered within 30 days to ATF or other Attorney General stipulated location (Title 18 U.S.C. 923(g)(4))
    • Altered or obliterated firearm serial numbers
    • The firearm is considered to be too old to trace
    • Current federal firearms licensee records are incomplete or missing, or the federal firearms licensee was unresponsive to ATF’s request for trace information
       

Types of Firearms Recovered in Mexico
and Submitted to ATF for Tracing

Calendar YearS 2017 - 2022
Calendar Year CY 2017 CY 2018 CY 2019 CY 2020 CY 2021 CY 2022
  # of Traces % of All Traces # of Traces % of All Traces # of Traces % of All Traces # of Traces % of All Traces # of Traces % of All Traces # of Traces % of All Traces
Category – Types of Firearms
Pistols 7,910 49.0 9,878 50.8 10,903 51.7 10,289 49.8 11,241 51.6 12,497 50.7
Revolvers 2,242 13.9 2,629 13.5 2,859 13.6 2,443 11.8 2,355 10.8 2,390 9.7
Rifles 4,879 30.2 5,338 27.5 5,656 26.8 6,285 30.4 6,435 29.5 7,800 31.7
Shotguns 794 4.9 1,118 5.8 1,144 5.4 1,120 5.4 1,192 5.5 1,402 5.7
Other 308 1.9 475 2.4 509 2.4 517 2.5 580 2.7 553 2.2
Total
 16,133   19,438   21,071   20,654   21,803   24,642  

Scroll horizontally if needed to view full table.

This chart is based upon firearms recovered in Mexico in a particular year and submitted to ATF for tracing.

  • The "Other" category refers to machineguns, destructive devices, derringers, tear gas launchers, combination guns, flare guns, receivers/frames, silencers, any other weapons and unknown types (to include trace requests that do not annotate a firearm type).

 

View All 2022 Firearms Trace Data

Last Reviewed September 27, 2023