Federal law currently requires that when someone passes an FBI background check to buy a gun, the record of that approval must be destroyed within 24 hours, and it limits how much data the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) can share about guns recovered at crime scenes, even with researchers and the public. This bill, the Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act, would repeal those limits, commonly called the Tiahrt Amendments. It would let the ATF share firearms trace data more broadly, process public-records requests about gun traces and arson incidents, and require licensed gun dealers to undergo physical inventory audits. It would also remove the 24-hour destruction rule for background-check records and lift the ban on the Justice Department consolidating gun-dealer sales records into a single database. Researchers cited in the bill argue the current restrictions make it harder to track how guns move from lawful sales into criminal use.
Civil Liberties
- NICS record retention limit — 24-hour destruction requirement for approved purchases repealed
- Restriction on centralized firearms database — Bar on DOJ consolidating dealer records removed
Transparency & Accountability
- ATF trace-data disclosure — Limits on releasing firearms trace data for research repealed
- FOIA access to firearms trace records — Prohibition on records requests about gun traces repealed
- ATF dealer inventory audit authority — Restriction blocking mandatory inventory checks removed
Congressional Summary
Gun Records Restoration and Preservation ActThis bill removes limitations on the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to conduct activities related to the administration of federal firearms laws.Specifically, the bill removes provisions thatlimit the use of firearms tracing data,limit the disclosure of data under the Freedom of Information Act,prohibit imposing a requirement that gun dealers conduct a physical inventory,prohibit consolidating or centralizing records maintained by federal firearm licensees (e.g., gun dealers), andrequire background check records to be destroyed within 24 hours.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-06-11
- Date Added
- 2026-07-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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