Every firearm I have purchased were all new so for all intensive purposes they trace back to me. But I did make one person to person sale in VA when it was allowed.
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Not entirely true. Person to person sales legally performed through an FFL are also traceable.
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That is true 
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I couldn’t even guess how many P to P sales take place around here that have no paper, no credit/debit card involved. In fact a lot of folks around here prefer to buy their firearms that way.
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Going the FFL route protects the seller should the firearm ever become part of a criminal investigation.
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If you’re carrying we all know if you need to use it it’s going to become evidence. I know that many guns come into our possession by inheritance, gift or sale. Just for argument sake, you get a gun from your dad, who got it from a best friend, who bought from who knows who. That’s why when I got my permit I bought a new gun that would become my EDC. If ever I need to use it, I keep a copy of the bill of sale on my phone from the FFL. There’s going to be an investigation and, this is just me, I don’t want any surprises when it comes to the gun I carry. I know there’s going to be plenty of things to worry about, the gun won’t be one of them.
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No, the ATF trace only goes to original transaction. The subsequent FFL transactions are unknown by the firearm manufacturer, and, therefore the manufacturer cannot tell the ATF about those as they do not know about them, either. If the ATF has illegally digitized records, then, yes, they can further the trace to new records.
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No it does not. They will still find that you were the original buyer, but if there is nothing tracing you to the crime, it is a non-starter. I know this from personally knowing investigators.
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TNevada does not tie any specific firearm to the CCW.
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To Dave17
Your statement did not ring true in my logic so I looked up an FFL’s responsibility. Here is a cut/paste from ATG.ORG.
“Applicable Laws and Regulations: 18 U.S.C. § 923(g); 27 CFR §§ 478.21, 478.124, 478.134.
You must obtain a completed [u]Firearms Transaction Record, ATF Form 4473/u (Form 4473); and, if necessary, an ATF Form 4473 Firearms Transaction Record Continuation Sheet (5300.9A), for every transfer of a firearm(s) to a non-licensee. The licensee must ensure each ATF Form 4473 is completed correctly in accordance with the instructions on the form. The correct completion of these forms enhances traceability of firearms. Correctly completing ATF Forms 4473 is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that ATF can trace crime guns. An ATF Form 4473 must be completed when you:
- Sell or trade a firearm;
- Return a consignment firearm;
- Return a pawned firearm;
- Loan or rent a firearm for use away from your licensed premises; or,
- Otherwise transfer or dispose of a firearm to a non-licensed person.
Note: You may only transfer a firearm to the person who completed the ATF Form 4473 and NOT to a spouse, relative, or other representative of that person.”
I don’t see how that contradicts what I said.
Sorry, I fixed it. I meant Dave17.
And where is that form stored? The FFL selling the used/transferred firearm saves it. On a trade-in/re-sale, etc., unless the ATF is getting that new form and has it in a searchable database (still currently illegal), it is still untraceable to the new owner as the ATF would not have that information, they still only know who the original FFL is when they contact the manufacturer.
Further, in Virginia there is no registry and we are stlll “allowed” to transact private sales, so the trace, even if it was traced to the owner on the 4473 still might not be the owner of the firearm. I don’t believe criminals typically complete sales forms and 4473s. 
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He’s referring to the Obama law that was supposed to close the “gun show loophole” nationwide… that law didn’t affect me as Colorado already required private party sales to go through an FFL.
Regardless though, you are quite right that criminals don’t deal in guns through legal channels anyway.
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ATF regularly sends out trace requests to FFLs based on a serial number. Each FFL checks their bound book and provides feedback to ATF (date of sale/xfer, to and from, and date(s). A real P. I. T. A.
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Oh, okay, that is not what I had read about tracing on the ATF site regarding 4473s. Seems illegal, another fishing expedition to get firearm data into their database (also illegal).
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When I was picking up the suppressor for my Barrett there was an ATF agent in the store doing exactly that, but a little more focused. He was looking for specific names and any transactions that had gone through that particular store.
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Luckily, we have no firearm registry in my state.
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I have never seen more than one trace at a time (these are done online and are pretty straight forward). Periodic “visits” look at the bound book to see if what was received vs. what went out jives with what’s on hand. Generally multiple hours of painful check - cross check - recheck - verify.
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