[Tom Servo]

When a gun dealer goes out of business , or the ATF decides to reveiw his records they enter this information into a database. Many guns can be indentified by the serial number alone because of the different format in which they are layed out.

Let's remember the Firearms Owners' Protection Act, which added this to 18 U.S.C. 926 (a):

No such rule or regulation prescribed after the date of the enactment of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act may require that records required to be maintained under this chapter or any portion of the contents of such records, be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established. Nothing in this section expands or restricts the Secretary’s authority to inquire into the disposition of any firearm in the course of a criminal investigation.