Seven decades ago, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky and their pals from New York decided that Clark County was ripe for expanding mob operations, and organized crime arrived in Las Vegas complete with armed "soldiers" for protection and muscle. In response, the county adopted the ordinance requiring the registration of handguns. (The idea probably came from California, where some form of handgun registration has been required since at least the end of World War I.) It was assumed that the mobsters wouldn't comply so, with few legal restrictions on search and seizure back then, the new ordinance provided law enforcement with some serious leverage.
The registration program, which was authorized in 1948 and then automated in 1980, has records that date back to 1973.
In 2007, when it became clear that compliance would be impossible for participants in trade shows or events held at the county's new shooting park, the registration deadline was extended to 72 hours if ownership was transferred in the county and 60 days for visitors. But it had long been an open secret that security personnel for visiting performers, sports stars and other celebrities weren't complying anyway. Such scofflaw behavior wasn't really a problem because arrests and prosecution for failing to register a handgun have been virtually unknown.
Read the article: The Las Vegas Review Journal