Key Takeaways
- The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform scheduled a Nov. 18 hearing on ATF out-of-business records retention practices.
- Gun Owners of America says ATF reported to Congress that it holds 1,414,088,513 records, which GOA calls an illegal registry.
- ATF maintains that what it holds is not a registry, citing its position that the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act does not apply.
- Twenty-four members of Congress sent a letter to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance urging them to end the database.
- GOA also raised a security concern, saying an ATF database was recently hacked by the ransomware group Qilin.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
WASHINGTON, DC — The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2154 titled “Oversight of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Out-of-Business Records Retention Practices.”
I previously covered the records count in my earlier article on ATF’s 1,414,088,513-record count. What has changed is the hearing itself. The committee’s hearing notice lists the date, time, room and title, and files the hearing under Federal Law Enforcement. The notice, as posted, does not name witnesses.
Out-of-business records are the transaction files a federally licensed dealer hands over when it closes. According to Gun Owners of America, every American who bought a gun in a commercial transaction from a dealer that later turned over its records at close of business has personal information in ATF’s system.
In a Sept. 30 alert, GOA said ATF reported to Congress, in a response to Rep. Michael Cloud, that it holds 1,414,088,513 records. GOA calls that database an illegal registry and points to the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act, which GOA says bars a federal gun registry. According to GOA, ATF maintains that what it holds is not a registry.
GOA also said 24 members of Congress sent a letter to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance about the database. GOA quoted the letter: “We write to alert you to an illegal national gun registry now containing 1,414,088,513 records of guns and gun owners… We ask for your decisive leadership to end this registry.” GOA is urging members to back the No REGISTRY Rights Act.
GOA also raised security. It said an ATF database was recently hacked by the ransomware group Qilin. According to GOA, ATF reports that the affected system was a legacy system, not its main enterprise network.
More from USA Carry:
The records at issue here are federal dealer transaction records. They are not the state carry permit records covered in my concealed carry permit information by state. For anyone who has bought from a gun shop that has since closed, the question is what happens to that paper trail after the store is gone.
I will continue tracking the Nov. 18 hearing and what comes out of it.
