If there’s one place in America that reflects the hurdles the Biden administration faces as it tries to get a handle on the country’s gun violence epidemic, it’s the National Tracing Center tucked in the mountains of West Virginia.

Sitting off a quiet, one-way road in an unremarkable, brick government building, it is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives’ only gun tracing center. Inside, federal employees and contractors huddle beneath harsh overhead lighting. Some workers rustle through thick stacks of documents. Others work the phones, trying to confirm vital information on weapons used in shootings, robberies or other crimes.

The center receives roughly 1,800 gun trace requests a day from local law enforcement agencies across the country. Their job is critical: take the identifying information they’re given and piece together a weapon’s path, from manufacturer to retailer to buyer.

[They can use some of those tons of money they get for other dubious pursuits and upgrade if it bothers them so much. ~ Beege]