RAPID Licenses/Database Access

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Business Watch International of Coral Springs, FL to obtain discrete electronic access on an investigative case-by-case basis to a nationwide secondhand/pawn dealer records system solely in order to identify and locate firearms and other goods related to bona-fide criminal investigations once they enter the secondary market. Access to the system will occur through a limited number of licenses. To improve law enforcement's ability to trace secondary market firearms, ATF seeks to supplement initial firearms trace data with secondary market information, including the location of the most recent secondhand/pawn dealer of the item, in order to "update" firearms traces beyond the first retail purchaser. Tracing information that is updated through confirmation of these records will be closer in time to the recovery of the firearm by law enforcement and will provide actionable leads in criminal investigations, thus combatting violent crime. RAPID will help close gaps in those densely populated areas of the United States where limited or no coverage of secondary market information currently exists..