Thomas L Chittum III
Legal Services and Consulting - Firearms, Public Safety, Criminal Justice
Tom Chittum is an Attorney; Adjunct Law Professor; retired Federal Law Enforcement leader; and former Public Safety Tech Executive. He proudly served the U.S. for nearly 27 years, retiring in 2022 from the Dept. of Justice as Associate Deputy Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). He teaches “Firearms Law and the Second Amendment” at UNLV. He was also Senior VP of Forensic Services at SoundThinking, Inc., the maker of ShotSpotter.
He is licensed to practice law in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, and consults nationwide. His practice focuses on investigations; firearms law; the Second Amendment; criminal justice issues; and public safety technology, operations, and policy.
Tom’s law enforcement career began in his home state of West Virginia. As a federal agent, he enforced a wide range of federal criminal laws, especially related to firearms, explosives, arson, and violent crime. He worked extensively in undercover assignments and regularly testified as an expert witness on firearm matters. Over the course of his career, he has also testified more than a hundred times as a fact witness. Tom retired as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ATF and a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES).
Tom was Senior Vice President of Forensic Services at SoundThinking, Inc. (formerly ShotSpotter), and lead a team of professionals supporting the integrated use of data, precision policing tools, and forensic evidence to detect, investigate, and prosecute gun crimes. His team also helped researchers better understand, analyze, and report on gun violence and the effectiveness of crime reduction efforts.
As an Adjunct Professor at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, Tom teaches “Firearms Law & the Second Amendment,” a viewpoint-neutral examination of the history, constitutional doctrine, and modern state of firearms law in America.
- Gov & Administrative Law
- Administrative Law, Government Contracts, Government Finance, Legislative & Government Affairs
- White Collar Crime
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Appeals, Drug Crimes, Expungement, Fraud, Gun Crimes, Theft, Violent Crimes
- Investigations
- Compliance
- Firearms, Explosives, Arson
- Alcohol & Tobacco
- Expert Witness
- FaceTime
- Google Meet
- Skype
- Zoom
- Microsoft Teams
- WebEx
- Free Consultation
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Contingent Fees
- Kentucky
- Kentucky Bar Association
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- Virginia
- Virginia State Bar
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- West Virginia
- West Virginia State Bar
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- U.S. Supreme Court
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- English
- Adjunct Law Professor
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- - Current
- Senior Vice President
- SoundThinking, Inc.
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- Acting Deputy Director
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF)
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- Special Agent
- IRS Criminal Investigations
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- University of Nevada-Las Vegas
- J.D.
- Activities: Law Review - Articles Editor
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- Eastern Kentucky University
- M.S.
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- Marshall University
- B.A.
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- Virginia State Bar # 86465
- Member
- Current
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- West Virginia State Bar # 12462
- Member
- Current
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- Kentucky Bar Association # 96675
- Member
- Current
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- The Federal Law of “Firearms Trafficking”
- Nevada Lawyer
- Can You Hear Me Now? Cell Phone Jamming and the Tenth Amendment
- Nevada Law Journal
- Local Prosecution of Gun Crime, National District Attorneys Association, Washington, DC
- NDAA
- Fighting Gun Crime in Cities
- U.S. Conference of Mayors
- Casings, Crumbs, and Camera: The Future of Law Enforcement Technology, Washington, DC
- GBEF
- History of Firearms Legislation, Symposium, Las Vegas, NV
- UNLV
- Firearms Law, Washoe Bar, Reno, NV
- Website
- Chittum Law, PLLC
