FFL Direct: ATF Built a Real-Time Tap on Gun-Buyer Records

ATF calls FFL Direct a convenience for gun dealers. The program automates serial-number trace responses that can send purchaser information to Washington while the bound book stays with the dealer. Congress must confront the backdoor registry infrastructure before an anti-gun administration explo...

By John Crump •

Congress Must Rein In ATF’s Billion-Record Gun Archive After Qilin Breach

Qilin breached a separate ATF system, but the bureau’s massive archive of lawful gun purchases remains a threat to gun-owner privacy. Congress should force a full accounting, end informal record collection, limit retention, and change the law that feeds the archive—before a future administrat...

By John Crump •

Ransomware Gang Names ATF; DOJ Calls Breach ‘Major’

A ransomware group has taken credit for breaching the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but the specifics of what happened remain thin. The Qilin gang listed the ATF on its dark-web leak site Wednesday, and the agency later confirmed it was investigating a cybersecurity inciden...

By Alta ML •

Cold War-era Law Finds New Use at America’s B-2 Bomber Base

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AFNS) —   Qilin Wu, a Chinese national who returned to Whiteman Air Force Base after being warned not to photograph the installation, was sentenced to six months in federal custody following a case built on a 76-year-old executive order signed by President Harry Truma...

By Eric G •