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Asset Forfeiture Program

FACT SHEET: Federal Forfeiture of Firearms and Ammunition

DOJ Policy Regarding Federal Forfeiture of Firearms and Ammunition

  • The Department takes crime-linked guns off the streets and keeps them out of circulation.
  • The Department makes it a priority to forfeit crime-linked firearms and ammunition.
  • The Department follows required legal processes to forfeit firearms and ammunition involved in federal crimes and removes them from the hands of criminals so they cannot be used in future crimes.
    • Congress has crafted many specific and general forfeiture statutes that authorize the forfeiture of firearms and ammunition involved in crime.
    • Forfeiture of firearms follows the federal prosecution, including in joint federal-state or federal-local investigations prosecuted federally.
    • Forfeiture statutes provide for notice of the forfeiture proceedings and an opportunity for innocent owners to file a claim for return of their property, including firearms and ammunition.

DOJ’s Disposition of Federally Forfeited Firearms and Ammunition

  • When the Department federally forfeits firearms:
    • The firearms are never sold or put back in the stream of commerce.
    • The firearms are never transferred to state and local law enforcement.
    • The firearms must be tracked in the Consolidated Asset Tracking System and maintained in the custody of a federal agency.
    • The firearms approved for disposal are destroyed at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) centralized National Destruction Branch (NDB) because ATF has the expertise.
Federal Forfeiture of Firearms and Ammunition Chart

What is ATF’s Firearms Destruction Policy?

ATF’s firearm destruction policy requires destruction of the entire firearm, including all parts. ATF does not resell firearms or firearm parts. ATF recognizes that state and local law enforce­ment agencies may have different laws and policies governing their disposition of seized firearms. If the policy of a state or local law enforcement agency is to lawfully dispose of firearms through destruction, the recommended best practice is to destroy the entire firearm, including all parts (slides, barrels, etc.). This is particularly important given the increasing criminal use of untrace­able privately made firearms (“ghost guns”), which are often assembled with used firearm parts.

Updated October 31, 2024