Does the ATF have an illegal gun registry?
From where I sit, it sure looks like it. As things currently stand, all gun purchase records are being held in perpetuity, which means that there's a good chance they know where most guns are if they just want to look for them. That's a registry, even if it's not a completely effective one. The fact they're trying to digitize those records to make them more searchable sure isn't helping, either.
Anti-gunners call this reasoning a conspiracy theory or fear-mongering, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, and all that jazz.
The ATF has denied it views it as a registry, of course, and the rules are currently in the process of changing, which would see them destroyed after 20 years.
But Sen. James Risch isn't moved. He wants the DOJ to investigate.
U.S. Senator Risch (R-Idaho) today sent a letter to the Department of Justice urging an immediate investigation into an illegal gun registry maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Federal law prohibits the creation and maintenance of a national gun registry. However, the ATF currently possesses more than 1.4 billion records relating to firearm owners, registrations, and transactions.
“American citizens are entitled to exercise their Second Amendment rights without the federal government compiling searchable lists of their names and firearms,” wrote Risch. “We ask for your decisive leadership to end this registry and prevent its expansion.”
Risch is joined by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tedd Budd (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in sending the letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Senator Risch has long fought to end the ATF’s illegal gun registry. Risch introduced the No REGISTRY Rights Act to force the ATF to delete all existing firearm transaction records and prevent the creation of any future firearms registry.
Read the full letter here.
There are some names I'm a little disappointed aren't on there — looking at you, Ted Cruz — but it's still an important move, because the ATF answers to the Attorney General. If the DOJ decides to investigate, then the ATF has to answer to its boss.
Look, Director Robert Cekada has been fantastic in the role so far, and his move to stop hoarding records like a dragon in a gold mine is the right move, but there are still concerns about the nature of the digitized records. Any database that's searchable makes it a gun registry, even if it's an ineffective one.
Hell, I've long argued that just holding onto the Form 4473s at the store and being able to call up to trace who bought what is a de facto registry, so I'm not disagreeing with Risch here in the least.
The DOJ should look into it.
Congress, however, should be looking into it, too. That's who the executive branch bureaucrats need to be concerned about, especially if Blanche decides not to investigate.
Either way, this isn't fear-mongering or a conspiracy theory. It's a search for answers; the answers anti-gunners think they already have but that we should remain ignorant of.
Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.
Help us continue to report on their efforts and legislative successes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
