wcreaf:

lyinginbedmon:

bogleech:

wait, what?

“no computer. The National Tracing Center is not allowed to have centralized computer data.“

WAIT, WHAT???

That’s the big no-no,” says Charlie.That’s been a federal law, thanks to the NRA, since 1986: No searchable database of America’s gun owners. So people here have to use paper, sort through enormous stacks of forms and record books that gun stores are required to keep and to eventually turn over to the feds when requested.

It’s kind of like a library in the old days—but without the card catalog. They can use pictures of paper, like microfilm (they recently got the go-ahead to convert the microfilm to PDFs), as long as the pictures of paper are not searchable. You have to flip through and read. No searching by gun owner. No searching by name.“

WAIT

WHAT????????????????

Even from a purely computer science standing this is HORRIFIC

That’s something they don’t show you on CSI, or any of the police procedurals. Come watch as our investigators spend all episode searching through piles of paper, some of which are too damaged to read because of fire, floods, or hurricanes. 

John Oliver covered this on his NRA episode. Watch to see what condition these paper records are in (along with some of the other BS the NRA get up to):