Department of Homeland Security and Firearms

The Department of Homeland Security’s mission includes law enforcement elements, which require the department, through its components, to manage various types of firearms. Our audit objective was to determine the efficacy of the Department of Homeland Security’s management and oversight of its components to ensure that personnel were sufficiently safeguarding and controlling firearms.

The Department of Homeland Security, through its components, did not adequately safeguard and control its firearms. Components reported 289 firearms as lost during FYs 2006 through 2008. Although some reported losses were beyond the officers’ control, most losses occurred because officers did not properly secure firearms. The department did not have a specific firearm policy and instead relied on the components to establish specific policies and procedures for managing, safeguarding, and controlling firearms. While some component policies were sufficient, personnel did not always follow them and the department did not require that independent third parties perform firearm inventories. Field offices did not always promptly report lost firearms to component headquarters or keep inventory records updated. Lost firearms pose serious risks to the public and law enforcement officers.

Based on the results of our audit we are making two recommendations to the department to improve controls over firearms. The Department of Homeland Security’s Management Directorate and Office of the Chief Administrative Officer concurred with the recommendations. The components we reviewed in detail are already taking actions to correct the issues we identified.

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http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_10-41_Jan10.pdf