I need to address some of the things you said in this post, because although some of it is right, some of it is pure, unadulterated BS. I'm assuming you are just repeating what someone told you, so I won't hold it against you, but I DO want to set the record straight for other readers...
I forget what the form is called, but if memory serves it is used to trace the gun back to the original purchaser. It is kept in the gun stores possession. If the gun is in a crime or stolen and then found, they trace the serial number back to the manufacture, they then trace who they sold it to, and then the gun store provides the ATF with the information on who bought it.
Yes, this part is almost spot-on. Dealers keep their 4473's, as a record of who purchased a firearm.
Where you go wrong is on the "original purchases" statement. ANY time a firearm is purchased through an FFL dealer, a 4473 MUST be filled out--NOT just with factory-new firearms, but also used guns, trade-ins, and pawn shop purchases.
If the number is filed off they trace it using the ballistics from the gun when the manufacturer test fired it and sent in the bullet for the atf's record.
I have no idea where you heard this, but it is 100% false. The BATFE does not maintain a "ballistic fingerprint database" for factory-new firearms, nor does any other Federal agency.
Some states do (like MD and CA) which is why manufacturers include spent casings with your factory-new gun. But the VAST majority of states do NOT keep such records, and NONE of the Federal agencies keep ballistic fingerprint data on newly-manufactured firearms. Period. End of discussion...
The only way that the BATFE or any State or local LEA can do a "ballistic match" on the bullet recovered at a crime scene (INCLUDING the states that DO keep such records) is to ALSO recover the firearm used to commit the crime and TEST IT against recovered projectiles.
Factory-supplied "test bullets" do NOT provide any useful info. A criminal can EASILY swap out a barrel, firing pin and/or slide, or use tools to mark or alter the face of any of those parts to cause a "no match" result on a ballistic test based on the factory bullet. Simple wear and tear on a firearm can cause enough change in rifling, firing pin indent geometry, and breech impression to cause a "no match".
EVERY reputable academic study that has been done on the effectiveness of "factory ballistic fingerprinting" has proven--beyond a shadow of a doubt--that they are statistically and forensically useless. In fact, MD has spend TENS of MILLIONS of dollars on their program in the last decade, and their "ballistic fingerprint database" has not contributed to the solving of a SINGLE crime. Not one. Nada...
Only Glock voluntarily contributed factory-fired bullets to the BATFE for inclusion in their IBIS balistics database. This is, IMO, yet another reason NOT to buy Glocks, or at the very least, a SUPERB reason to put an aftermarket barrel and firing pin in your Glock if you already own one...
It is not required to fill out in order to open carry. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
I have NO idea where you heard this, but the Feds have NO jurisdiction over mode of carry in local jurisdiction. Whether I Open Carry, Concealed Carry, Carry BOTH ways, or Carry me back to old Tiperrary is of NO concern to the BATFE.
If you buy a gun from a dealer with a FFL (Federal Firearms License) you MUST generate a Form 4473. Period. Doesn't matter how you carry it. Doesn't matter if you NEVER carry it. the form is a record of the TRANSFER.
I don't know where people come up with this crap... :uhoh:
Just wanted to set the record straight. We've got PLENTY of reasons to be paranoid about the BATFE and the FBI. But this is not one of them... Yet...
