Their stated intent can only be met by a full database of all guns and all owners. They know that.
We can probably assert that as fact; but, by continued evidence from the journos themselves, it's thin assertion.
It's all to easy to ascribe to malice what is better ascribed to incompetence.
That journos are malicious, there is little doubt of that. The complication is in their presumption of their competence in achieving that maliciousness.
They wanted to grind an axe on how awful the PoPo are, and thought to end run using the records, just like on TV.
Oops.
Now, the groups who want us all disarmed are the ones pushing the agenda, not those blathering about it in the press. There is an argument that those behind the scenes people actually want their to be two opposed groups, utterly polarized and with no common ground at all. Sadly, that makes both groups easy to manipulate. Groups that can be manipulated can be profited from.
But, back to the point, ATFE is specifically enjoined from creating any list or database of firearms owners, so you cannot FOIA them into creating "a record" that does not, or cannot exist. They could ask for every trace containing the name "William" or on Baker Street, or back to Fargo, ND. And, as those are crime scene traces, so some of the data might have to be redacted for current cases.
That's thin gruel.
As thin as when CBS extrapolated firearm ownership per State from only the NFA Registry. Thin stuff.
