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I'm not quite ready to be fitted for the tin foil.

Do I think the current administration would love to do it? Yes.

Have they? You'd need budget, personnel, servers, space, outside contractors, etc., just to get a project of that scale up and running -- all while knowing that it was explicitly forbidden by law. Such a database is no small task given the volume of transactions.

The various agencies have enough trouble keeping the secrets they're authorized to keep. I don't think an enterprise that comes with complementary bracelets and a trip to club fed would survive for very long. The other branches--or even subsequent administrations--would tear that conspiracy apart with a great deal of delight.

The only firearms information submitted on a NICS check is the weapon type (pistol, rifle, shotgun) , not serial number.

FWIW: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/g ... fact-sheet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"The NICS is not to be used to establish a federal firearm registry; information about an inquiry resulting in an allowed transfer is destroyed in accordance with NICS regulations. Current destruction of NICS records became effective when a final rule was published by the Department of Justice in The Federal Register, outlining the following changes. Per Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 25.9(b)(1), (2), and (3), the NICS Section must destroy all identifying information on allowed transactions prior to the start of the next NICS operational day. If a potential purchaser is delayed or denied a firearm and successfully appeals the decision, the NICS Section cannot retain a record of the overturned appeal."

There's really no such mechanism in Texas since there's no pistol registry. Looks like the reporter has confabulated some facts they didn't understand into complete nonsense.

Edit: if you read that sentence again, it may be accurate, but also inaccurate.

Investigators did a quick weapons background check--and learned Pickering had licenses for numerous handguns he had collected and kept all over his Pinehurst home.

All an FFL can do is respond to a trace request from ATF, but that only occurs when an agency is tracing a specific serial number. I suppose if the investigators knew he'd done business with only one FFL they could request that the FFL search their books for what had been sold to the individual over the years. Unless they're keeping an electronic bound book that's a tall order too.

Alternately, it's possible he could have multiple sale 3310.4 paperwork on file with the local LEO, but that would only account for a few firearms and would also require that information be in a searchable db or a really interesting filing system. In Harris County, for example, the multiple file forms are saved for three years and then destroyed according to the city's paper storage reduction plan.