A coalition of U.S. lawmakers has declared the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operating an illegal national gun registry containing over 1.4 billion firearm records and demanded its immediate destruction.
Representative Michael Cloud (R-Texas) sent letters to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday detailing the ATF’s unauthorized database. The letter stated: “We write to alert you to an illegal national gun registry now containing 1,414,088,513 records of guns and gun owners. Federal law forbids this.” Cloud cited the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986, which explicitly prohibits “any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions.”
Twenty-three other House members joined Cloud in signing the September 29 letter. Eight senators recently sent an identical demand to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, urging an investigation into the ATF’s database and the “prompt and verifiable destruction” of all records.
According to lawmakers’ statements, the registry has grown from approximately 920 million records in 2021 to its current size of 1.4 billion. The data is stored at the ATF facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and includes sensitive details such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and specific firearms purchased. Gun Owners of America (GOA) Federal Affairs Director Aidan Johnston called the database “truly shocking,” stating: “No one in their right mind can look at ATF’s digital, searchable 1.4 billion record database of firearm transactions and tell me that isn’t a gun registry.”
The ATF denies maintaining a registry, referring to it as a “tracking system.” Johnston noted that the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 was created specifically in response to past accusations that the agency had engaged in similar practices. The law narrowed the definition of “dealer,” eliminated federal record-keeping for ammunition sales, and banned federal firearm registries—a direct countermeasure to concerns raised during the ATF’s early operations under the Gun Control Act of 1968.
The ATF has faced repeated controversies throughout its history, including the 1991 Randy Weaver shootout in Oklahoma, the 1993 Waco siege that claimed nearly 90 lives, and the 2009–2011 “Operation Fast and Furious” scandal where firearms were allegedly provided to Mexican drug cartels. Lawmakers argue these incidents underscore the agency’s pattern of actions undermining firearm rights.
Congressional leaders contend the ATF’s registry represents a critical first step toward federal gun confiscation—a practice historically linked to authoritarian regimes. They emphasize that the Constitution grants no enumerated power for federal firearm regulation, and the agency’s expansion has repeatedly threatened Second Amendment protections.
The coalition demands immediate action to dismantle the illegal system, calling it a direct threat to American liberty.