Senate bill would require ATF to create computerized, searchable gun record database

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) would be directed to establish a computerized, searchable database of gun records under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Monday.

The Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act would strike a current federal prohibition on the creation of a searchable database of gun records. The ATF would be required to establish a database that includes records of the sale, importation, production, and shipment of firearms within three years under the bill.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced the bill in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, earlier this year. Florida Gov. Rick Scott is currently challenging Nelson for his Senate seat.

“The fact that there is a law on the books that forces agents to comb through millions of files by hand is absolutely ridiculous,” Nelson said.

Under current gun-tracing processes, investigators must first contact gun manufacturers and wholesalers to trace the serial numbers of gun used in crimes. They then must contact the licensed dealer that sold the weapon or resort to paper records maintained by the ATF National Tracing Center if the gun dealer is no longer in business.

The Florida Legislature has found that compiling a database of gun owners would be ‘an instrument for profiling, harassing, or abusing law-abiding citizens based on their choice to own a firearm and exercise their Second Amendment right.” Under Florida state law, government agencies could be fined up to $5 million for violating a state prohibition on a database.