YourVoice.Now Summary
Gun LawsCivil LibertiesTransparency & AccountabilityATF would build a searchable database of the gun sale records it holds — but not searchable by buyer name.
Gun Laws
The ATF's tracing center would have to turn the dealer records it already holds into computer databases it can search. The rule applies even if current spending limits on the ATF say otherwise.
Licensed gun dealers could choose to let the ATF's tracing center reach their required records online. Nothing in the bill makes them do it.
A dealer could give the ATF its paper sale records once 10 years have passed since the sale. For old paper logbooks, the 10 years count from when the book has no open entries.
If a state or local government agrees, the ATF could search its gun registration records and pawnshop records from afar.
Civil Liberties
Searches could use the sale date, the dealer's license number, or gun details like make, model, and serial number. They could not use a person's name or other personal details, but each result would show the full record.
Besides crime cases and dealer checks, the ATF could search the records for foreign intelligence. Federal law defines that to include threats like terrorism, spying, and foreign drug trafficking.
Transparency & Accountability
The Government Accountability Office would check whether the ATF follows these rules. Its first audit comes within a year, then every 2 years, with reports to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
More about this bill
If you buy a gun from a licensed dealer, the dealer keeps a record of the sale. Under current law, a dealer that closes for good sends its records to the federal government. This bill would make the ATF (the federal gun agency) put the records it holds into searchable computer databases within 3 years. The rule would apply even if current spending limits say otherwise. Dealers could choose to give the ATF online access to their own records. They could also hand over paper records 10 years after a sale. Searches would be allowed only for crime cases, foreign intelligence work, or checks on dealers who turned in paper records. Searches could use the date, the dealer, or gun details like the serial number. They could not use a buyer's name or other personal details. Each result would still show the whole record the dealer kept. With a state's OK, the ATF could also search state gun registration and pawnshop records. Congress's watchdog, the Government Accountability Office, would audit the program every 2 years.
Congressional Summary
Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act of 2025 This bill requires the National Tracing Center within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to establish and maintain an electronic, searchable database of records related to certain firearms transactions.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-12-01
- Date Added
- 2026-10-03
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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