Biden Admin Lays Foundation For Massive Gun-Grab Exercise, 1 Billion Records Of Gun Sales

Republican lawmakers want answers as to why the Biden administration has compiled nearly 1 billion records of gun sales.

Back in November, The Free Press reported that President Joe Biden’s gun cops had gathered gun-purchase data on some 54 million Americans – even though a 1986 federal law signed by then-President Ronald Reagan prohibited the U.S. government from maintaining “any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established.”

On Wednesday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the situation is much worse.

GOP lawmakers are demanding to know why the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, or ATF, seems to be planning to “sweep up records of every gun sale in America,” as found in a digitized, searchable ATF database of nearly 921 million records.

GOP Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas and 35 of his colleagues are asking how that happened – and more importantly, why is it necessary.

The Free Beacon reported on a letter, dated Wednesday, the lawmakers sent to acting ATF Director Marvin Richardson about the database.

The Republicans admit they were “astounded” by the size of the massive file.

They questioned why the ATF was proposing a rule requiring gun dealers to maintain records beyond 20 years, which is now the maximum retention time under federal law.

“This regulation was enacted to ensure that the federal government complied with existing law restricting the creation of a federal gun registry. It is therefore concerning that the Administration would seek to repeal a decades-old rule without citing any research or data justifying the need for retaining firearm transaction records in perpetuity,” the letter said.

“Indeed, the only basis for the proposed rulemaking is that firearms are durable and can be operational and in circulation for more than 20 years.”

The Free Beacon reported that the ATF claims its records are primarily used to track guns used in crimes. Yet, the ATF also points out that the database is often useless in prosecuting gun crimes.

The GOP lawmakers alluded to that in their letter.

They asked why the ATF needs files from 1985, when, according to the ATF, the average time a gun is used in a crime after being purchased is seven years, and in almost half of crimes, that drops to just three years.

Congress “by statute has prohibited ATF from maintaining a national gun registry,” the lawmakers wrote. “ATF’s new proposal to require FFLs [federal firearms licensees] to keep all records of sales in perpetuity means that, eventually, ATF will sweep up records of every gun sale in America that occurs at a licensed dealer.”

“ATF’s database is looking more and more like a prohibited database of firearms and law-abiding gun owners.”

Cloud told the Free Beacon, “Americans have every right to be concerned about the Biden administration misusing their power to create an illegal federal firearms registry, and it’s up to Congress to get to the bottom of this.”

Aidan Johnston, the federal affairs director for the Gun Owners of America, added, “The ATF is not collecting and digitizing these records because they want to protect the Second Amendment—they are doing it because they want to register and confiscate our firearms.”

Florida Republicans who endorsed Cloud’s letter include Reps. Vern Buchanan, Kat Cammack, Bill Posey, and Greg Steube. 

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