The ATF now holds more than 1.4 billion pages and images from closed firearm dealers, according to information provided to Congress.
Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, says the massive collection operates as an illegal national gun registry. He is now calling for an independent investigation and the destruction of any records maintained unlawfully.
Gun Owners of America is backing Cloud’s effort and has spent years investigating the ATF’s Out-of-Business Records system.
Table of contents
What the ATF Confirmed
The ATF reported holding exactly 1,414,088,513 pages or images from former federal firearms licensees as of May 19, 2026.
That total includes:
- 912,184,571 images in the agency’s Enterprise Content Management system
- 397,009,542 images converted from microfilm and microfiche
- 104,894,400 hard-copy pages awaiting scanning
That means approximately 1.309 billion pages, or nearly 92%, are already digitized.
Importantly, the number represents individual pages and images. It does not necessarily represent 1.4 billion separate firearm purchases or gun owners.
The total has grown dramatically since 2021. At that time, the ATF reported holding approximately 920.7 million records, including roughly 865.8 million in digital form.
How the Records Reach ATF
Federal firearm dealers must retain transaction records while operating. When a dealer permanently closes, those records go to the ATF’s National Tracing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
The documents can include purchaser names, addresses and other identifying information. They also contain firearm makes, models, calibers and serial numbers.
ATF says it retains the records to help law enforcement trace firearms recovered during criminal investigations. The agency’s Records Search Request Program also allows qualified law enforcement agencies to request searches connected to legitimate cases.
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The ATF denies maintaining a national registry. It says the digitized documents are stored as static images and are not searchable by a purchaser’s name or other personal identifier.
GOA disputes that characterization.
The organization says records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that the system can filter information using firearm serial numbers, manufacturers, models and weapon types. GOA argues that this capability makes the collection a functional registry, even if ATF disables direct name searches.
Cloud Wants the Records Investigated
Cloud’s latest letter asks for an independent investigation into the Martinsburg record system.
He also wants officials to destroy records held in violation of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act or congressional spending restrictions. Cloud further requested that future ATF record-retention rules comply with those limits.
“ATF has confirmed what we suspected: this unlawful database exists,” Cloud said. “This database functions as a national registry of gun owners.”
Cloud warned that the information could threaten gun-owner privacy if used by a future administration seeking firearm bans or confiscation.
The Texas Republican first pressed the ATF for answers in 2021. He sent additional inquiries with other lawmakers but did not receive the latest detailed response until 2026.
GOA Says the System Is Searchable
GOA’s latest video (see above) revisits its earlier investigation and highlights the rapid growth of the record collection.
The organization says the danger goes beyond the number of stored documents. Its main concern is whether officials can search firearm information and connect those results to completed Form 4473 records containing purchaser details.
GOA also objects to the ATF’s proposed change from indefinite retention to a 20- or 30-year schedule. The proposal would establish retention periods for dealers and the ATF’s Out-of-Business Records Center.
GOA argues that records could still remain in government or dealer custody for decades under that system.
Cloud and GOA instead support the No REGISTRY Rights Act. That proposal would require ATF to delete existing firearm transaction records, allow closing dealers to destroy their records and prohibit future federal firearm registries.
The central dispute now comes down to function rather than size. Everyone agrees that ATF possesses more than 1.4 billion record pages. The unanswered question is whether the agency’s search capabilities have turned a crime-gun tracing archive into the national registry Congress prohibited.
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I’ve never had a use for hackers until now. Let’s start a go fund me .
In reality the ATF has a new sorting machine that can buzz through photostats of the 4473 forms. So its an end run around registration but is registration really bad?
In Fact the Registration “boogey man” is laughable and only is a false panic to the ignorant of the paranoid Far Right Fanatics. In fact the Government never needed Registration if they want to ban a particular style weapon. Once its banned “without registration” you could never without the chance of being caught sell the firearm, use it in self-defense, or shoot it anywhere without the risk of being caught and going to prison, lose your right to own any firearm for life, lose your job and be fined heavily. Sane people would never run that risk.
The advantage of registration has it has been a proven tool to cut way back on the sea of firearms that trade hands privately. It is insane that any criminal or nut case can actually walk out of prison and within hours buy a private firearm with no paperwork. No other civilized nation on earth permits such insanity.
Most criminals “do not” get the majority of their firearms from stolen guns but get them through private sales and many firearms have become untraceable due to being sold and re-sold many times.
In civilized countries its often very difficult to buy an unregistered firearm which also includes deep vetting. This is why other nations have so much lower homicides and mass murders. The London Bridge Incident comes to mind when terrorists tried to buy shotguns in Britain but their vetting system denied them the guns so they attempted to mass murder a group of Pub patrons with box cutters and the Patrons fought back and annihilated them. In Capitalvania where life is considered cheap and expendable the terrorists would have bought assault rifles and killed everyone in a matter of seconds as happened in the Orlando Night Club massacre.
In Germany a nut case wanted to massacre Jews at worship but he failed to get an unregistered weapon so he made a home made zip gun that failed to function and no one was killed and he was captured quickly by the German Police. This is the way its done in civilized countries.
No gun control laws are perfect or flawless but what we have here now in the U.S. today is pure insanity.
I might add that today only 33% of people even own firearms anymore and that there would be no revolution against a Registration Act and the few nut cases that tried to shoot it out would be liquidated in the blink of an eye. That is the present reality like it or not.
In Capitalvania each year 45,000 people are gunned down every year and that includes 1,500 children. No other civilized country puts up with such mass murder and rivers of blood in the streets. Registration and deep vetting do not result in a gun less society it only results in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and nut cases. There are privately owned weapons in Europe and in Asia and all are registered with the usual deep vetting process proving that the inevitable gun confiscation is false that the Far Right Paranoids like to spread around like barn yard manure.
Did you know that in some Asian countries you can legally own a brand new machine gun but thanks to President Reagan he took that right away from you when he banned the sale of “new machine guns”. So much for Republicans always being pro gun, they are not.
In other words, who cares if it’s illegal as long as leftists don’t think it should be…
Ignoring real facts and statics while making up your own doesn’t make them true. Go troll somewhere else you assclown.
To Herr Hauptman Greg
Except the history of gun control is on my side. We have the most gun deaths a year (45,000) and the most child deaths (1.500) from guns in the Industrialized world. Other countries have far less proving that their gun control laws work much better than our lack of such laws.
Educate yourself before making a fool of yourself.
Komisar dacian is a clueless buffoon. The Komisar gets virtually any relevant point WRONG. I could offer several examples but why bother? I will stick to the latest gaff by Komisar dacian below.
“The advantage of registration has it has been a proven tool to cut way back on the sea of firearms that trade hands privately.” -Komisar dacian
The Komisar offers no supporting evidence for this claim. In fact, the USSC eventually ruled on the case of Haynes v. United States in a 7-1 decision where Earl Warren dissented and Thurgood Marshal was not present that criminals are protected by the 5th Amendment from registration requirements as a violation of self-incrimination.
The Komisar even stated recently that the courts can write regulations for firearms and that Komisar dacian was quoting Justice Scalia verbatim.
More dacian NONSENSE
WRONG again Komisar dacian.
Keep hiding from your own words dacian.
to Herr Hauptman Kane
Your ignorance of gun laws worldwide is infinite. Try and buy a gun on the street in countries that have registration and Strick gun control. Unlike you I have been to foreign countries and its easier to get hit by lightening than to walk into a bar or flee market and buy an unregistered gun. Their much lower homicide and mass murder incidents is much lower than ours but that does not seem to ring a bell in that rather thick cranium of yours.
to Komisar dacian
Hey idiot, I am not worried about the “gun laws worldwide.” In general, try reading up on the case history of 2A and in specific try reading up on registration before you write your next manifesto.
I gave you the case history of Haynes v US and you learned noting.
:^I
Wrong again Moron. Ever here of the word “amnesty” which could easily be written into any registration law. There was no amnesty clause when the Hanes case was heard. Even a 5th grader could understand that one genius boy.
Clueless, Komisar dacian, amnesty is a criminal pardon for person or persons that have been convicted of crimes, particularly political crimes. Haynes v US was a case that led to a USSC decision based on the 5th Amedment.
You cannot really be this stupid.
:^(
Komisar, are you going to let this new guy, Greg, bitch slap like that?
No need to reply if you like being bitch slapped by this new guy.
when you do the nics check all that info is given so whats the difference……
Answer: Because it is never to be stored and accessible to future tyrannical leaders.
Except Paul that the 4473 is only filled out for a new gun purchase not a second hand private sale that is given to anyone who has the cash in his hand. Now if that is not insanity nothing would be.
In regards to new sales, yes, but not private sales.