MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — City leaders are continuing their efforts to crack down on violent gun crimes, with council members on Tuesday inking at deal with federal authorities to track shootings and share intelligence.
The move extends Myrtle Beach’s partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, allowing officers to enter firearm-related information into a national database.
“Access will facilitate information sharing and provide near real-time intelligence to participating agencies,” the agreement says. “The mission of the program is to reduce firearms violence through aggressive identification, investigation and prosecution of shooters and their sources of crime guns.”
13 face federal drug, gun charges in Myrtle Beach-based investigation
In 2022, Myrtle Beach became the ATF’s fifth state partner, and generated 175 leads via the database.
Over its 25-year history, the database has led to 640,000 leads. The agency has nearly six million pieces of ballistic evidence stored in the system, according to the ATF’s website.