Very well said (I think I may have been the one to mention the cryptographic signature idea to you, but I am pretty sure I've read it elsewhere). 1) I think th

Very well said (I think I may have been the one to mention the cryptographic signature idea to you, but I am pretty sure I've read it elsewhere). 1) I think the other key point is inferring how guns go from the factory floor to the crime scene: how many are illegally imported, how do firearms sold to civilian and law enforcement markets go from their legal gun owner to the criminal. Essentially a Palantir-government type solution, not so much for legal purchases, but for firearms used in crimes. This can lead to improved policing: e.g., if it's found that firearms used in Los Angeles come via straw-purchases from Arizona, then police attention can be directed to CA/AZ border. 2) For classes of firearm owners that are licensed or registered (CCW in different states, handgun owners in some states, NFA), it may be helpful to keep track of what licensing procedures were used, the demographics of the owners, the type of firearm, and then correlate this with any crime involving either the firearm or the owner -- using this as a feedback loop to improve licensing and registration laws. E.g., if it is found that there is no significant difference in terms of incidents/accidents with CCW holders that had 15 hours of training vs. 30 hours of training, there's no point in maintaining the 30 hour training requirement. 3) I think 1 and 2 need significant buy-in from gun owners, manufacturers, law-enforcement officers, and gun rights group. When the previous scientific studies come out with proposals these three groups (whose buy in crucial) find non-sensical (for very good reasons) and backed by poor data, that leads to loss of trust and the belief that studies that find facts contrary to a pre-conceived agenda will not be permitted. It makes perfect sense, for example, for CDC to investigate gun violence -- yet given the previously shoddy and biased studies on this matter, the significant stake holders are less likely to cooperate. This, in turn, leads to lower quality data, further perpetuating the cycle. So if a group can manage to persuade congress to drop wildly unpopular and non-sensical measures (like Feinstein's semi-automatic "assault weapon" ban proposal), they have far better credibility for starting a conversation with the stake-holders. Law enforcement, for example, have often found ways to work with organizations like the ACLU to ensure due process is observed, when implementing legislation opposed by those organizations. There's no reason why SAF, NRA, as well as ACLU (in regards to avoiding racial profiling, protecting the rights of mentally ill, and other first/fourth/fifth amendment issues -- especially with the #1 "tracking" proposal) should not play a role in a more in depth data-backed gun violence studies.