Compare Licensed dealer . An official record of the transfer of a gun from one owner to another. This makes the owner accountable for the gun. If someone who already owns a gun is convicted of a felony, registration notifies the police that the gun is now illegally possessed. When police are sent to investigate a disturbance, registration tells them whether they are likely to encounter a gun at that address.
Registration also assists the police after a crime is committed.
If the crime gun is recovered, police can determine the last legal owner. In future, as more states use ballistic fingerprinting, registration will help to trace the last legal owner even if the gun itself is not recovered. See also Straw Purchase . Safe Storage Law State law requiring firearms to be stored with a trigger lock, cable lock, or in a locked container so that they cannot be fired. Only Massachusetts requires that all firearms be secured through the use of a locking device or safe.