By Brandt Williams, Minnesota Public Radio News

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — When Minneapolis police recover a gun from a crime scene, they try to find out where it came from. A police officer can enter the make, model and serial number of the gun into a database to find out if it was reported stolen.

Police also contact the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to determine who originally bought the gun, and where it was purchased.

The ATF National Tracing Center in Martinsburg still uses paper records from gun stores that have gone out of business to help trace a gun.

Millions of records have been digitized, but they are not organized into a searchable system because Congress prohibits the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from doing so.

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