They're Putting Tiahrt on Trial Apr 28—Your Privacy Is the Defendant

Mark the date: **April 28.** The House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement convenes specifically to examine how ATF operates under the Tiahrt Amendment—the appropriations riders that block a federal gun registry, mandate NICS background-check records be destroyed within 24 hours, and bar ATF from forcing dealers into warrantless inventory audits.

This is not a routine hearing. This is a targeting operation.

The anti-gun playbook is predictable: use congressional testimony to build a public record, launder the "crime gun tracing" narrative as law-enforcement necessity, and soften the ground for legislation already sitting in the chamber. That legislation has a name—Rep. Madeleine Dean's **Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act**, introduced in the 119th Congress in June 2025.

Dean's bill doesn't tweak Tiahrt. It **demolishes it.** Every major protection gutted in a single stroke: tracing data opened to FOIA requests, the 24-hour NICS destruction requirement killed, ATF handed the power to demand dealer inventory audits on demand. Dean and her Bloomberg-aligned backers call it "holding dealers accountable." Translation: your FFL becomes a government informant, and a permanent record of who owns what is finally within reach.

**The Tiahrt Amendment has held since 2003. Every repeal attempt has died.** It has survived because gun owners and their allies in Congress refused to blink. Dean's bill is just the latest salvo—but this hearing is designed to make it feel inevitable.

Expect emotional, well-rehearsed testimony from police organizations that have lobbied against Tiahrt for years. Their argument is built to move moderate Republicans, not to protect crime victims. The GOP majority on this subcommittee is the firewall right now—and they need to hear from constituents before that gavel drops on April 28.

Contact your House rep today. Tell them Tiahrt stays—every rider, every word. Because once the record is built in that hearing room, it doesn't go away.

**Watch this space.** WTF News will have full post-hearing coverage the moment that gavel falls.