§2Electronic, searchable databases
This section directs the National Tracing Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to establish and maintain, not later than three years after enactment, electronic, searchable databases of all records submitted to ATF by federal firearms licensees concerning the importation, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposition of firearms. Licensees may provide ATF with electronic access to such records or voluntarily relinquish non-electronic records after 10 years from the firearm transaction date (or, for paper acquisition and disposition books, after 10 years without open disposition entries and no dispositions recorded); ATF also may access, with state permission, state firearms registration or pawnbroker databases.
The databases (1) are searchable by date of acquisition or disposition, license number, and firearm descriptors (i.e., manufacturer, importer, model, serial number, type, and caliber or gauge) but not by any individual's personally identifiable information; (2) must return the entire contents of relevant licensee records in search results; and (3) may be queried by ATF only for bona fide law enforcement investigations (federal, state, local, tribal, or foreign), foreign intelligence information (as defined in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, 50 U.S.C. 1801) or information necessary to understand or assess it, or compliance inspections of active licensees. The requirement takes effect notwithstanding any other law or funding restriction on ATF or the Department of Justice.
As background, the National Tracing Center supports law enforcement firearms tracing in criminal investigations by matching recovered firearms to licensed dealers via records maintained under current law (which generally do not require centralized electronic storage). (Thus, this provision enables rapid, remote querying of a centralized database for authorized purposes.) Not later than one year after enactment, and biennially thereafter, the Government Accountability Office must audit ATF compliance and report to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.