The number of guns reported lost from federally licensed firearm dealers and pawn shops in Alabama is the highest in the country, according to a new government report.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report shows Alabama's number of lost weapons in 2016 more than tripled from the previous year, going from 277 to 842. Four years ago, the number of lost guns in the state was 119.

The report also shows thefts of firearms from licensed dealers in Alabama has gone up significantly, too -- from 204 in 2015 to 340 in 2016.

Combine Alabama's lost and theft figures and it ranks fourth highest in the nation, behind only Georgia, Florida and Texas.

Alabama's increase in lost and stolen firearms -- 481 in 2015 to 1,182 last year, an increase of 146 percent -- comes during a period of increased gun violence across the United States, which has been highlighted in recent years by the high level of homicides taking place in Chicago. At the end of 2017, Chicago had recorded 762 homicides, the highest in two decades, according to Chicago Police Department records.

That has placed America's third largest city at the center of the national dialogue on gun violence. Incidents of gun violence have risen to more than 58,500 last year, up from 51,850 and 53,611 in 2014 and 2015, respectively, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a Washington D.C. non-profit organization that collects figures from over 2,000 media, law enforcement, government and commercial sources.

Chicago city officials have said that the flood of illegal firearms coming into the city has not helped. According to city officials, most of the guns come from Illinois and neighboring states, although the rest of the guns tend to come from the south. Of the 50,000 guns traced between 2001 and 2012, a little less than 4,300 came from Mississippi, while Alabama accounted for over 1,000, according to official data collated by the New York Times. Both figures place the southern states in the top 10.



The Chicago Police Department did not respond to AL.com's request for updated figures.

Alabama can't stop losing guns

In comparison to Alabama, the second highest state, Ohio, reported 660 losses in 2016. Florida and California reported 598 and 473, respectively. Alaska, a state with high gun ownership, reported seven losses last year. Wyoming also recorded seven and Delaware just three.

While the rate of loss has hit a spike in Alabama, the national trend has shown a significant decrease. In 2013, around 15,077 firearms were lost by FFLs, which was nearly halved to 8,637 in 2015 before rising to 9113 last year. In terms of theft, the ATF reported that 6163 firearms were stolen in 2015, compared to 9281 in 2016.

Stores with a federal firearms license, commonly referred to as an FFL, can sometimes forget to record the whereabouts of a weapon that has, for example, been sold or sent for cleaning, according to ATF Special Agent Michael Knight, who told AL.com that internal theft is also a possibility given the high number of losses in the state and nationwide.

"ATF Industry Operations Inspectors regularly conduct inspections on the Federal firearms licensees," said Knight. "This only applies to the FFL's and not to individuals. Industry Operations Inspectors conducted nearly 10,000 FFL inspections during the last year. A majority of these events were based on routine inspections."

A loss is when a store is unable to explain why a weapon cannot be accounted for in official record keeping logs, said Knight. FFLs must report each lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours of discovery of the loss or theft by completing and forwarding a report to ATF, according to the agency's official rules. In addition, the FFL must also report the firearm loss or theft to the appropriate local law enforcement agency.

As of March 2017, there were 136,000 FFLs operating in the United States.