In 2020, guns bought at a small gun store in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, began turning up nearly 600 miles away, on the streets of Philadelphia. Agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) traced many of them back to a single buyer.
That buyer, Muhammad Ware, purchased over 100 firearms from Myrtle Beach gun dealers, including 85 from Elite Firearms alone. With the help of co-conspirators, Ware then trafficked and sold the firearms to prohibited buyers in Philadelphia.1Motion for Pretrial Detention, United States v. Vaughn, at 1, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.594858/gov.uscourts.paed.594858.13.0.pdf. To date, 23 of those trafficked firearms have since been recovered by law enforcement in connection with violent crime, including homicides, shootings, and carjackings.2Id, at 4 and 18.
Editor’s Note: This is the third installment of The Smoking Gun’s “Trafficking Spotlight” series following the trail from gun shop to crime scene. Read our previous installments here.
guns purchased from Elite Firearms
Court records indicate that Ware and his co-conspirators trafficked a total of 102 firearms to Philadelphia.3Id, at 1. Ware was a straw purchaser: someone who illegally buys firearms on behalf of others, frequently for individuals barred from owning them. Court records show that within six months, Ware purchased at least 70 firearms — including 57 pistols — from Elite Firearms.4Indictment, United States v. Ware, at 4-13, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.594858/gov.uscourts.paed.594858.1.0.pdf. By the time his scheme was uncovered, that total had grown to 85 firearms purchased from the store, including 74 9mm pistols.5Order of Forfeiture, United States v. Ware, at 2-9, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.594857/gov.uscourts.paed.594857.139.0.pdf. His purchases included several identical firearms bought in rapid succession: four Canik pistols over two days,6Indictment, United States v. Ware, at 10-11. and, weeks later, four Glock 19s and two Glock 17s over a 10-day span.7Id, at 13. The majority of Ware’s purchases were made in cash.8Motion for Pretrial Detention, United States v. Vaughn, at 18.
Both the ATF and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) have identified repetitive purchases of similar firearms as an indicator of straw purchasing, particularly within a short time frame. Gun dealers are also trained to identify these indicators of straw purchasing and gun trafficking. Ware’s repeated purchases of similar firearms over a short period of time fit squarely within these well-known indicators — conduct that Elite Firearms should have detected, used as a basis to decline the sales, and flagged to law enforcement.
While the vast majority of Ware’s straw purchases were made at Elite Firearms, he also purchased and trafficked 12 firearms from a Bass Pro Shops location, four pistols from Dick’s Pawn Shop West, and one pistol from 707 Gun Shop, all located in Myrtle Beach.9Order of Forfeiture, United States v. Ware, at 2-9.
From Gun Store Counters to Philadelphia Crime Scenes
Nearly a quarter of the firearms trafficked by Ware and his co-defendants, Jabreel and Haneef Vaughn, have already been recovered in Philadelphia in connection with violent criminal activity, including carjacking incidents, shootings, and homicides.10Motion for Pretrial Detention, United States v. Vaughn, at 4 and 18. One firearm was linked to eight separate crimes, including multiple shootings and a homicide.11Id, at 11. Many of the firearms recovered by law enforcement had a short “time to crime” — the length of time between when a firearm is purchased and when it is recovered in connection to a crime.12Motion for Pretrial Detention, United States v. Vaughn, at 2-3. One firearm was found just 10 days after Ware purchased it in South Carolina in the possession of a suspect in a homicide investigation with a federal arrest warrant.13Id, at 15.
The firearms sold to Ware by Elite Firearms contributed to a violent chapter in Philadelphia in 2021. In the months that followed Ware’s scheme, gun violence reached its peak in the city. According to The Trace, there were 562 homicides in Philadelphia in 2021. The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) further reported 1,840 nonfatal shootings that year in the city.
In recent years, Philadelphia has prioritized community violence prevention programs that work with individuals in neighborhoods with the highest rates of gun violence on conflict resolution and effective communication. They also offer support services, job training, and other resources that help people secure employment and achieve long-term economic stability with the goal of reducing gun violence and promoting community safety. In 2025, Philadelphia had the lowest number of homicides since the 1960s, but that progress is now at risk. In April 2025, the Trump administration abruptly canceled nearly $170 million in federal grants for community violence intervention and victim services.
Ultimately, a federal grand jury charged Ware and the Vaughns with conspiracy, and Ware with dealing firearms without a license.14Indictment, United States v. Ware, at 1. Haneef and Jabreel Vaughn both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 24 months.15Judgment, United States v. Jabreel Vaughn, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.594859/gov.uscourts.paed.594859.116.0.pdf; Judgment, United States v. Haneef Vaughn, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.594858/gov.uscourts.paed.594858.100.0.pdf. Ware also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 37 months.16Judgment, United States v. Ware, https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.594857/gov.uscourts.paed.594857.140.0.pdf.
Elite Firearms has not been criminally prosecuted or lost its license to operate as a gun dealer, and maintains its storefront and online store. The company’s website promotes a customer rewards program in which every dollar spent at the store earns points that eventually unlock discounts at the store.17Elite Firearms, “Rewards,” accessed August 17, 2026, https://scelitefirearms.com/rewards/. Court documents do not indicate whether Ware was a member of this program. However, Elite Firearms put profits over public safety when it sold him at least 85 firearms despite obvious red flags.