Thomas L. Chittum III

I am a Lawyer, Leader, and Public Safety Executive, dedicated to helping make America a just and safer nation.

I am a licensed attorney, an SVP in a publicly-traded public safety technology company, a retired federal agent and member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), and a law professor. My professional focus is on Law, Leadership, Policing, Investigations, and Public Safety.

At SoundThinking, I lead a team of experienced professionals who support the integrated use of data, precision policing tools, and forensic evidence to detect, investigate, and prosecute gun crimes. We also help government partners and academic researchers use data to better understand, analyze, and report on gun violence and the effectiveness of crime reduction efforts. I routinely deliver Continuing Legal Education (CLE) training to attorneys across the nation.

I proudly served the United States for nearly 27 years, retiring from the Department of Justice ( DOJ) as Associate Deputy Director (the Chief Operating Officer) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). But I began my career conducting investigations in the field.

While serving my country, I enforced a wide range of federal criminal laws and regulations, especially related to firearms, explosives, arson, and violent crime. I conducted, lead, or oversaw thousands of criminal, civil, and administrative investigations. I worked extensively in undercover assignments. I regularly testified as an expert witness in federal court on firearm-related matters. Over the course of my career, I also testified more than a hundred times as a fact witness.

I am an adjunct professor at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, where I teach “Firearms Law & the Second Amendment,” a viewpoint-neutral examination of the history, constitutional doctrine, and modern state of gun law in America.

I regularly speak on matters related to crime, policing, and firearms law to lawmakers, cabinet-level and other high-ranking government executives, private industry, law enforcement, and in the national media.

My career began in my home state of West Virginia. I was also assigned to offices in Miami, FL; Louisville, KY; Las Vegas, NV; Seattle, WA; Detroit, MI; and multiple assignments in Washington, DC.

I have a BA in Criminal Justice from Marshall University in Huntington, WV; an MS in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY; and a JD from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where I was an Articles Editor for the Nevada Law Journal.

I am licensed to practice law in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.