No sir. When you post nonsense you should expect to be called on it. You've been a member here long enough to know better.
The Form 4473 can establish who the retail buyer of a gun is.
Only the first retail buyer from the original FFL. If the firearm is subsequently sold/traded/gifted and even eventually resold at another licensed dealer there is no paper trail (registration). But the Form 4473 DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with establishing who is the current owner of the firearm.
Thinking that's "registration" is laughable.
Thereafter, agents can go to that buyer and determine if he still has the gun. If not, they are going to ask for a reasonable explanation. "Lost it in a tragic boating accident" is not going to cut it. LE is not stupid. Depending on how hard-assed they want to be, they can make life very difficult for that person.
Horsehockey.
I've averaged 4-8 firearm traces per year, ones where the ATF National Tracing Center have requested a copy of the original Form 4473. In ten years that's 40+ customers.
NOT ONE SINGLE TIME has ATF made "life very difficult for that person"........think why that may be.
First, they didn't tell the ATF "boating accident" or "dog ate my homework", they told the truth......that they sold the gun as permitted under federal and state law.
Whether LE is or is not stupid is irrelevant, the fact remains there is no record-keeping requirement under federal or Texas law for the private sale/trade/gift of a firearm.
Second, LE has to ....wait for it......FOLLOW THE LAW. It is perfectly legal under federal law to sell/trade/gift a firearm as often as you desire as long as you abide by federal law. ATF or your local PD might be disappointed that you have no information on who bought your gun ten years ago.......but TOUGH LUCK. If ATF or local LE "makes life very difficult", that may be because you violated a state law or federal law or heck, your fingerprints are on the crime gun.
I would appreciate it if you would be a little more respectful.
Don't post conspiracy theories and you'll get plenty of respect. Your assertion that a Form 4473 is de facto registration is not only erroneous, but shows a complete and total ignorance of what actual firearm registration is. Want to know what that is? Ask any of our forum members who come from states where every transfer is recorded and every transfer requires another NICS check. You couldn't gift Granddads 1911 without following state law and getting state permission.
As gun guys we get aggravated when politicians refer to semi automatics as machine guns, when someone calls a magazine a high capacity clip, when the media assumes every semiautomatic rifle is an assault rifle or when politicians spout nonsense that background checks and closing the gun show loophole will fix everything.
Don't be like politicians.