Gun Control & RKBA

Registration actually already occurs every time a legal purchase is made from a FFL holder ("gun dealer&quot .

The name of the purchaser, with identifying information, is recorded by the FFL together with a description of the firearm purchased including serial number. The ATF requires that information to be maintained in a "book" which must be kept by the FFL and transferred to any successor in interest.

Here's the rub. The FFL does not provide that information to any law enforcement agency. This means that the government has no idea who purchased a firearm until AFTER it is used to kill/hurt someone and AFTER the weapon is recovered. In other words, we have the information already, we just can't use it.

So I guess your question is: What would law enforcement do with this information if they had it in a single master list?

Well, one thing they would be able to do is to assemble a list of who is purchasing firearms and what kind of firearms they are purchasing. From such a list, they would be able to identify potential "straw purchasers" and non-licensed (non-FFL) dealers by checking to see how many weapons (and what kind of weapons) are being purchased by a given individual. For example, if Buyer A has purchased 40 Glock 19s over the last 6 months (or even 2 or 3 over the last week), law enforcement might well want to take a closer look at that individual to see if they are either: (a) intentionally purchasing weapons for individuals who they know to unable to legally possess such weapons (you know, folks like convicted felons); or, (b) running an illegal "gun store" where they sell firearms in what the claim is a person to person transaction (and thus free from the "hassle" of background checks, maintaining the "book" etc.) Both of these are violations of federal law and many state laws. More importantly, contrary to the myth some have pushed here, it is from THESE sales, NOT by stealing them, that most "professional" criminals obtain their weapons. Alerting law enforcement to such potential criminals allows it to target further criminal investigations. Cutting off this supply of guns is a good thing.

Another thing it would allow is to permit government to identify the demographics of gun purchasers to account for troubling social developments that the government might want to address. For example, the government might (oh, say it ain't so) discover that the overwhelming majority of gun purchases are made by white suburbanites who have been persuaded to accept the racist meme that they face a danger from "those people" sneaking into their suburban communities and doing them harm that is greater than the increased danger created by the mere presence of an additional firearm in their home. Addressing the spread of racist myths is a legitimate government interest.

Well, there's a couple for you anyway.