Although handgun possession is illegal in NYC, DC, & I think Chicago, and carrying is defacto outlawed in LA, you can still buy a handgun without a license, or a background check, at a gunshow in most places. There can, to my knowledge, be no record any place that a person legally acquired a handgun. The NRA and 2nd amendment rights fight hard against firearm registration, because they're concerned that such a database would enable the government to seize all guns, and enact the tyranny that the 2nd amendment was written to prevent. But, Uncle Sam's got tanks and Predators, I ain't gonna go Rambo with my 9mm, fam.