They're Coming for Tiahrt Apr 28 — And the Bill Is Already Written

The House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement has scheduled a dedicated hearing on the Tiahrt Amendment — the appropriations riders that stop ATF from building a de facto national gun registry. The date is April 28. The threat is real. And the other side didn't show up empty-handed.

Rep. Madeleine Dean already has the demolition charges wired: her Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act, introduced June 2025, would gut Tiahrt's tracing-data restrictions, kill the 24-hour requirement that NICS records be destroyed, and hand ATF the authority to physically audit every federally licensed gun dealer in the country. **That's not reform. That's a registry with extra steps.**

Here's the part that should wake you up: ATF's institutional standing is shaky right now — and a cornered agency is a dangerous one. Expect ATF allies on the subcommittee to use this hearing as a rescue operation, arguing the agency needs *more* surveillance power to prove its worth. It's a play. Gun owners need to see it for exactly what it is.

Listen for the code words. If Republican members start talking about "modernizing" or "updating" Tiahrt, that's the tell. Those phrases are how gun rights get negotiated away in a single markup session while most of the country isn't watching.

The window to stop this is *before* April 28 — not after the hearing produces a quote that gives the bill momentum. Call your House rep today. Put Tiahrt on the record. Make them say, out loud, that a federal gun registry by any other name is still a federal gun registry.

**The closer:** Tiahrt has survived decades of assault because gun owners showed up every single time it mattered. April 28 is one of those times. Watch this hearing like your privacy depends on it — because it does. We'll be tracking every statement, every vote signal, and every piece of legislative maneuvering that comes out of that room. Don't miss what comes next.