KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At the time of this story, the Kansas City area has seen 105 homicides in the 2023 calendar year. In the majority of those cases, the victim was shot.
The Kansas City Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is heavily involved with the KCMO Police Department in tracking the use of guns involved in crimes.
"ATF is also very focused on ballistics intelligence being recovered at these crime scenes," said John Ham, senior investigator for Kansas City ATF's Field Division. "We may not know who the person pulling the trigger is, but we can tell you the criminal history of that gun."
Ham told KSHB 41 that a major trend right now in KC is the theft of firearms from personal vehicles.
"Particularly outside of entertainment districts, sporting venues, places where firearms are not allowed to be carried in the state of Missouri," Ham said. "Those parking lots have become real targets for criminals to break in, looking primarily for firearms."
Ham urged gun owners to be more aware of how they advertise they may be in possession of a gun.
"If you've got a vehicle that has a number of firearms [or] manufacturer bumper stickers on it, that's something that potential thieves look for, and they'll target houses where those cars are parked," Ham said. "Same thing goes for what you're posting on social media. Certainly, if you're posting a lot of pictures, etc., with firearms, and those pictures are set so that anyone in the public can see those."
Another step gun owners should take, but aren't, according to Ham, is making note of a gun's identifying details.
"A huge number of stolen firearms go unreported because the owners don't have the make, model and serial number we need to put that gun in the system as stolen," Ham said. "In the event that your gun is stolen, that's going to provide you the opportunity to get that firearm back."
Ham said such information should be kept separate from the gun.
