During a recent Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Committee session, Clyde revealed that he had visited the ATF’s out-of-business records processing center two weeks prior. He said he was surprised to discover that the agency is directing employees to violate federal law.Representative Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) has introduced an amendment aimed at defunding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to prevent it from continuing the development of a digital firearm registry.
The ATF is caught by Congressman Andrew Clyde of GA holding onto, and digitizing, the records of gun owners; a Clyde referenced the 1986 Firearms Owners Protection Act, which mandates that out-of-business federal firearms licensees (FFLs), such as gun retailers, transfer all records less than 20 years old to the ATF. “Well, that same law that requires out-of-business FFLs to send those records to ATF also prohibits the government from recording those records,” he explained. The law also prohibits the establishment of any system of registration for firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions. However, Clyde noted that in 2022, the ATF admitted to digitizing and recording nearly 900 million records from out-of-business FFLs. The agency also indicated it was on track to digitize a billion firearm transaction records. The ATF maintains that because it is not a name-searchable database, the agency is not technically creating a registry. Clyde disagrees. “But I think that actually is irrelevant as the first part prohibited the recording of paper transaction records, and they are now doing that with high-speed scanners,” he said. “I cannot see how this is not a violation of the law. Why do they need scanners and scanner maintenance if they're not using them to record documents? The ATF is not above the law, and we must ensure that they are not operating outside the law.” He continued:
violation of the Firearms Owner Protection Act.
Now why do you think they would be doing that? pic.twitter.com/NdvDKpofQi
— Kerry Slone (@thereal_SnS) July 10, 2024
While out of business. Federal Farms licensees are required to turn in their records to ATF, the ATF is not permitted to record these records. Yet in 2022, the ATF spent almost $10.2 million to receive, digitize, and store out of business records. In 2023, the estimate was almost $10.3 million. The language of the law is very clear to me. The law allows them to keep the records and to organize the records and to inquire into the records. But it does not allow them to record the records or any part of the records in any way. By their own admission, ATF is recording these records in digital form. This digitizing, especially now with the advent of artificial intelligence, represents the foundation of a national gun database, which is again, unlawful and incredibly dangerous. Country after country across the world has proven that gun registration eventually leads to gun confiscation: England, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and the list goes on. Clyde called on his fellow congressmen to support his amendment, which he argues is necessary to ensure the ATF adheres to federal law.
