Comment on FR Doc # 2026-08929
Jack TunstillSupportIndividual
Summary: A private gun owner supports the proposed action of limiting firearm record retention periods, specifically advocating for a 20-year maximum limit. The commenter also suggests that records should be kept in electronic format rather than paper to improve compliance and conserve resources.
I am a lawful gun owner who thinks that requiring a FFL to keep firearm records indefinitely is wrong. The retention period should be a max of 20 years and that retention be in an electronic format, not paper. Keeping paper records in the digital age is a terrible waste of a natural resource, i.e., trees. Electronic maintenance of such records would make it easier to comply with the current requirement to transfer all FFL records to the ATF within 30 days of business termination. I believe that 30 day requirement needs to be revisited.
The ATF's own statistics shows that OOB records older than 20 years are not very helpful in criminal traces. That is another reason to raise the rule.