The realities are that firearms records give much comfort to the book-keeping personalities in government and law enforcement work, but are functionally of little use in most cases involving criminal uses of firearms. Guns employed by professional crooks are not registered to them. Factory records, although in some cases quite complete, show only the jobber to whom shipped, nothing more. Elements which make a conviction in any case, including those involving firearms, are far more concrete than the shadowy record of gun shipments which lead to a blind wall. The concept of firearms records for crime detection, while theoretically neat, in practice lacks merit. ["What's Happening on the Legal Front," pg. 8]See, some people knew 50 years ago what a fraud the whole system was--and now, because they weren't listened to, the government is perpetuating the fraud as an excuse to close down gun dealers--all of which does nothing to fight violent crime.
The March 1958 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online. Even then they were at the forefront of informing their readers about regulatory threats to RKBA.
Also in this issue is a warm memorial tribute to the great Ed McGivern, a look at what Eli Whitney gave us besides the cotton gin, articles of interest to collectors, hunters and shooters, and of course, the classic period ads that are both fascinating and frustrating to look at--just remember--back then, a dollar was actually still worth about a dollar.
