9th District Congressman Andrew Clyde led nearly 30 of his House Republican colleagues Wednesday in sending a letter Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director Robert Cekada urging the agency to limit the retention of firearm records to 20 years and immediately destroy digitally recorded firearm registration records.
On May 6, the ATF issued a proposal that means a firearm transaction record could be retained for a potential maximum combined retention period of 60 years.
Rep. Clyde (R-Jackson County), whose district includes part of Hall County, and his colleagues, including the county’s other congressional representative, Rich McCormick (R-Suwanee), cited the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 (FOPA) and an appropriations rider as explicit legal prohibitions on the ATF’s current recordkeeping practices.
The lawmakers further argue that the ATF’s proposed rule is vulnerable under the Administrative Procedure Act as “in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or limitations” and note the agency must address the statutory prohibitions raised or face reversal challenges.
Additionally, Congressman Clyde and his colleagues sound the alarm on the “staggering” “scale of the ATF’s existing digitized records and the grave threat they pose to Americans’ Second Amendment liberties.
In closing, the lawmakers highlight the agency’s “positive” direction under Director Cekada’s leadership yet note the need for additional changes to the ATF’s recordkeeping to protect and restore Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
You can read the full letter HERE.