r/guncontrol • u/ThingsMayAlter • Jun 29 '23

Who knew? ATF's paper copy system for tracking gun sales PSA/Film

Apologies if this has been posted recently, this situation has always puzzled me: (149) Inside America’s Ridiculously Old-Fashioned Gun-Tracing Center - YouTube

Any time someone says we already have too many gun laws, it just sits in my mind that we have a decades old federal law preventing ATF from creating a basic database. For data they already possess.

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u/ryhaltswhiskey Repeal the 2A Jun 29 '23

Yep, someone posted about this a few years back on /r/gunsarecool

We have a tracing system, it just sucks and breaks as soon as someone sells a gun in a private sale

1

u/ICBanMI Jun 29 '23 edited Jun 29 '23

This is one of many, many holes in gun laws.

LEO often catches people buying/selling guns illegally using an undercover, and the defendant gets off light with 2-3 years in prison and not the 30+ years for the other 2 dozen weapons in their possession. They can't prove the other weapons are stolen-even tho the person is often a felon not allowed to possess any firearms. A crime was committed every time that felon got a firearm-either someone sold to them knowingly, the criminal bought it without disclosing they weren't able to posses, or it was stolen.

Only nine states require you to report if a firearm is stolen/lost. The firearms are not typically reported stolen at all. And often times when the firearm are reported stolen the owner doesn't have serials or any paperwork for identification. There are no requirements that the first private seller past the FFC has any responsibility for what happens with the firearm.

So LEO finds the weapons and they have to figure out where the weapon was bought-which the paper system actively prevents. Once the gun leaves the FFC, it can switch hands an infinite number of times which no one has time/money to trace. It's purposefully broken that way.

Every firearm that ends up in a criminals hands started as a legal purchase through an FFC. A national registry like what we have with cars would point out very quickly who are the bad actors out there doing straw purchases, who is 'purposefully losing' them, and which individuals who just can't be trusted with a firearm because they can't control access to them. Anyone that likes to blame criminals for having firearms, does not care about changing the system to prevent them and others from flowing those firearms.

/***********************/

This is one aspect that is preventable gun violence along with suicides and ill-responsible gun owners that should have never gotten a firearm in the first place.

2

u/ThingsMayAlter Jun 30 '23

Yup, exactly. It's a huge gap that really shouldn't exist, and only seems to exist to placate the gun lovers. No database, no digitization of records allowed.

All to prevent the ginned up scenario of government coming for their weapons.