FBI Director Confirms NICS Surveillance Five Years After AmmoLand Exposed It
For five years, the federal government answered questions about its secret monitoring of lawful gun buyers with redactions, litigation and carefully worded policy changes. On Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel finally gave the public a direct answer.
It took one word.
During a September 15 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the FBI, Sen. Ted Cruz questioned Patel about the government’s use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to monitor firearm purchases.
“GOA discovered a secret FBI program called NICS Monitoring, used to track firearm purchases of Americans who were legally eligible to buy a gun but were suspected of a crime. Is that right?” Cruz asked.
“Yes,” Patel replied.
The brief exchange, shared by Gun Owners of America, confirmed the central finding AmmoLand investigative journalist John Crump first reported in April 2021: NICS was being used for more than determining whether someone was legally prohibited from receiving a firearm. It could also be used to watch the future gun purchases of Americans who remained legally eligible to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
BREAKING
Cruz: “GOA discovered a secret FBI program called NICS Monitoring, used to track firearm purchases of Americans who were legally eligible to buy a gun but were suspected of a crime. Is that right?”
Patel: “Yes.” https://t.co/driyPHIK5G pic.twitter.com/85OVORHkDL
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) September 15, 2026
AmmoLand Broke the Story in 2021
Cruz credited GOA with discovering NICS Monitoring, but that compressed the history of the investigation.
On April 26, 2021, Crump published “Leaked Document Shows ATF Spying on Gun Buyers Through NICS”. The report was based on an ATF document leaked to AmmoLand News.
The people targeted by the program were not necessarily prohibited persons. According to the document, ATF personnel could request monitoring when they suspected that someone might be involved in firearms trafficking, straw purchases or another potential violation. If approved, the FBI would flag the individual and notify ATF about subsequent firearm transactions.
The individual would not be told that the government was watching his purchases.
AmmoLand provided the document to GOA, which then filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking more information about the program. GOA deserves substantial credit for pursuing the records and fighting the government in court, but the original disclosure came from Crump’s reporting at AmmoLand.
That distinction is worth preserving—particularly when the FBI director is finally being questioned about a program AmmoLand exposed five years ago.
ATF Tried to Keep the Records Buried
GOA’s FOIA work revealed that NICS Monitoring was not merely an obscure procedure sitting unused in a government manual.
After ATF provided GOA with documents that were supposed to contain redactions, the agency realized it had released unredacted material. ATF demanded that GOA destroy the records. When the organization refused, the government went to court seeking an order that would prevent GOA from using or discussing the material.
Crump covered that extraordinary attempt at government censorship in the 2023 AmmoLand article, “ATF Attempts to Silence Gun Owners of America.”
The underlying issue was larger than a FOIA processing mistake. The government was attempting to stop a Second Amendment organization from discussing records the government itself had voluntarily delivered—records concerning federal surveillance of gun owners.
Later disclosures showed that the program was used by ATF field offices around the country. The FBI’s NICS Alert Services personnel could place identified individuals into the monitoring system and send ATF an alert when one of those individuals purchased or transferred another firearm.
In April 2025, AmmoLand reported that the system had even been used to monitor out-of-state firearm purchases connected to possible violations of California’s so-called “assault weapon” laws. One disclosed record cited California Penal Code provisions criminalizing certain semiautomatic firearms as the reason for monitoring a purchaser.
The federal government had turned a background-check system into an enforcement tool for California gun control.
ATF Restricted the Program but Did Not End It
Public exposure and congressional scrutiny eventually forced ATF to change its NICS Alert Policy.
An April 23, 2025 memorandum required approval from an ATF Special Agent in Charge and concurrence from a Deputy Assistant Director before a NICS alert could be requested. The memo stated that alerts could only be used in cases involving suspected violations of federal firearms statutes and “should not be utilized to primarily investigate state firearm laws.”
The revised policy also required a formal memorandum identifying the person to be monitored, the suspected federal violations, the asserted factual basis for the alert and the requested monitoring period. Alerts could run for 30, 60, 90 or 180 days. Continuing surveillance beyond six months required approval from the ATF deputy director and concurrence from chief counsel.
Those restrictions were an improvement over a system that had been used to assist enforcement of state gun bans. They were not the abolition of NICS Monitoring.
ATF expressly called NICS alerts a “valuable investigative technique.” The agency preserved the surveillance machinery, created a new approval process and allowed existing alerts to be renewed. Nothing in the two-page policy added a warrant requirement.
As AmmoLand reported at the time, the program was limited, not dismantled.
Patel’s Answer Leaves the Most Important Questions Unanswered
Patel’s acknowledgment matters, but the 31-second video does not establish that he created the program, personally approved its use or continued the abuses uncovered under previous FBI and ATF leadership.
It also does not answer whether the program is operating today.
Congress should now demand clear answers from Patel and ATF:
- How many Americans have been subjected to NICS Monitoring?
- How many were never charged with a crime?
- Does the FBI require a warrant, subpoena or court order before flagging a lawful purchaser?
- What information is retained after an approved transaction?
- How many alerts remain active?
- Has the program ever produced a prosecution?
- Can the FBI initiate monitoring outside an ATF request?
Most importantly, why does the federal government retain the power to monitor the exercise of an enumerated constitutional right by someone it admits is legally allowed to exercise it?
Buying a firearm is not probable cause. Association with people or organizations the government dislikes is not probable cause. Exercising the right to keep and bear arms must not become the basis for placing an American on a secret federal watchlist.
John Crump and AmmoLand exposed NICS Monitoring. GOA forced out additional records and resisted ATF’s attempt to bury them. Congressional pressure forced the agency to narrow the program. Now the sitting FBI director has confirmed its existence before Congress.
The government can no longer pretend the surveillance never happened. It must tell gun owners whether it is still happening.
About Duncan Johnson:
Duncan Johnson is a lifelong firearms enthusiast and unwavering defender of the Second Amendment—where “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. A graduate of George Mason University, he enjoys competing in local USPSA and multi-gun competitions whenever he’s not covering the latest in gun rights and firearm policy. Duncan is a regular contributor and editor-in-chief for AmmoLand News and is responsible for AmmoLand’s daily gun-rights reporting and industry coverage.