ATF and Bluegrass Crime Stoppers partner up to help keep illegal/stolen firearms off the street

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — A first of its kind partnership between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF and Bluegrass Crime Stoppers, aims to keep illegal guns or stolen firearms off the streets and landing in the wrong hands.

“These thefts directly contribute to violence on our streets. Stolen guns often make their way into the hands of shooters,” says Lexington Police Police Chief, Lawrence Weathers.

The partnership coming with benefits of investment not only for crime stoppers but also for the community.

“ATF is providing $10,000 to crime stoppers to be used as rewards for information leading to an arrest and seizure of a firearm used in a crime or the arrest of a person in possession of a stolen gun,” adds Shawn Morrow, Special Agent in Charge in the ATF in Louisville.

Chief Weathers says last year over 86% of firearms stolen in fayette county were taken out of vehicles.

“There were 475 guns were, were reported stolen in 2023, 411 of those 475 guns were stolen from a vehicle,” he adds.

As for the payout for tips, “we’re going to offer $1000 for any illegal gun recovered, stolen gun. And that is going to be matched by the ATF’s initiative of $1000. And we thought, well, that’s good. What if we get more than one gun? Because sometimes these arrests do have more than one and sometimes these, these arrests are connected to things even bigger. So, if an arrest yields more than one firearm, we’re going to add an additional bonus of $500 on top of that,” adds

Officials adding that public safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them, or submit a tip anonymously to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers, you can also call them, (859) 253-2020.

You can submit tips anonymously through the Bluegrass Crime Stoppers website.