don't forget the 4473s are kept on file for 30 years and go to the ATF if the FFL closes shop too. The only good thing about that is all those paper copies will take an army of ATF agents years to go through.Don't forget, if they trace a gun through an FFL, they have a habit of just copying the whole bound book during the investigation.
How many FFLs never have a trace ?
I wonder what % of sales they have records for in government custody.