Congress Demands Answers From ATF Over Backdoor Gun Registry

[Elderberry]

Legal Insurrection by Mary Chastain 2/16/2026

“We, the undersigned members of Congress, have waited patiently to know how many records ATF is currently maintaining in its illegal, digital, searchable gun registry, also known as the Out-of-Business Records Imaging System (OBRIS).”

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) and other lawmakers have demanded answers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regarding its backdoor gun registry.

“We, the undersigned members of Congress, have waited patiently to know how many records ATF is currently maintaining in its illegal, digital, searchable gun registry, also known as the Out-of-Business Records Imaging System (OBRIS),” wrote Cloud.

The Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 and the Brady Act made it illegal for the ATF to have a centralized firearm registry:

    No such rule or regulation prescribed after the date of the enactment of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act may require that records required to be maintained under this chapter or any portion of the contents of such records, be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established. Nothing in this section expands or restricts the Secretary’s [1] authority to inquire into the disposition of any firearm in the course of a criminal investigation.

Unfortunately, gun dealers have to hand over records to the government if they go out of business.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) discovered that in 2021, during the Biden administration, the ATF had over 54.7 million out-of-business records.

Lawmakers first reached out to the ATF on February 14, 2025.

More: https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/02/congress-demands-answers-from-atf-over-backdoor-gun-registry/

[Smokin Joe]

Recall, if you will, that smaller dealers were pursued by ATF (especially during the Clinton Administration, but since, as well) and hounded out of business over minor flaws in paperwork, resulting in revocations.

The "kitchen table" FFL holder was especially targeted, usually someone who obtained a FFL for the purpose of purchasing firearms at dealer prices, but who also sold firearms (legally) to others they knew. For these folks, often the FFL was for a sideline business, and these were targeted because the ATF folks knew they could not afford to put up a court fight. Some simply decided that it wasn't worth the potential problems for the limited income they made and let their licenses lapse or surrendered them, along with their records (including Form 4473s as required by law).

And that's where the ATF gets its database.

This has been complicated by 80% lowers being completed into viable firearms in home shops and by amateur gunsmiths, manufacturing firearms within strict limitations that require no serial number if not sold.

[Sighlass]

I think of the guns I have purchased in the past from places that have gone asunder. Western Auto, a few gun shops that have retired, places that the ATF now has digitalized. No "boat accident" jokes will keep me safe from a runaway government, probable only my death and anonymous handing over to my offspring under the guise they never let anyone know.