CryptID- Secure, anonymous firearms permits?

[Gunhead]

First of all, I'm gonna confess that I don't know much about Cryptography other than what I read in Cryptonomicon. That said, one of the ways we might be able to have access to decent weapons is if we could pass some kind of certification combining mental health screening, background checks, safety classes, etc. \
The problem with these is that they're not very secure. I'm wondering if a sort of public/private key system could be used to authenticate an "assault weapons" permit while keeping the users anonymous.

[TML]

I didn't think this thread would be a call to bend over.

[Gunhead]

Originally Posted by TML

I didn't think this thread would be a call to bend over.

What'd you have in mind?

[Brianguy]

Keep the users anonymous from who? Are "assault weapons" permit holder names available to the public?

[nick]

Originally Posted by Brianguy

Keep the users anonymous from who? Are "assault weapons" permit holder names available to the public?

I think, he meant "anonymous from the government". This idea was hashed out before.

[gabe123]

You want to be anonymous? What do you think the registration is for?

[rjpsb1]

A scheme involving public/private key pairs isn't useful in a certification scheme of the type you're interested in. Unless I misunderstand, you want to use it to identify you (to some parties only) as cool to own some kinds of things, but still remain anonymous.

At some point, you have to prove your identity - that's what a PKI (public key infrastructure) scheme is useful for. You can't be anonymous to the 'certifying authority'.