@article{ref1,
title="Clueless: the misuse of BATF firearms tracing data",
journal="Law review of Michigan State University Detroit College of Law",
year="1998",
author="Kopel, David B.",
volume="1999",
number="",
pages="171-180",
abstract="In ancient Greece, priests would slaughter a sacrificial animal, and then carefully examine the animal's entrails. The priests and their followers both believed that by &quot;reading entrails,&quot; one could forecast the future. This process, fortunately, has become less messy these days: rather than using entrails, our modern fact-inventors use something much cleaner, but no more reliable: trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (&quot;BATF&quot;). Today, powerful leaders also make unsupportable claims based on &quot;information&quot; which was never intended to be used in such a manner. Sometimes the U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traces the registered sales history of a gun which was used in a crime, or which has been seized by the police. Traced guns are not representative of the broader universe of crime guns. Accordingly, drawing public policy conclusions based on tracing data is unwise.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1087-5468",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}