Inside the gun archive obscuring the records of all America’s firearms

Every day more than a thousand gun trace requests are logged in America. The law enforcement officials behind them want one thing: the name of the weapon’s owner.

The request could be for a gun used in a multiple homicide, or abandoned during a drug heist, or dropped by a criminal mid-pursuit.  

In films these scenes usually last a few minutes. An officer types a serial number into the computer, waits while it loads and bingo: up pops a profile.  

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But the reality is not that simple. There is no searchable database of gun owners in America. In fact, such a system is banned by law – meaning a routine search takes about a week.

Instead of a searchable digital database, America has got the National…

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