There is no national gun owner registry in the United States, and federal law forbids the federal government from building one. That prohibition does not bind the states, and roughly half a dozen jurisdictions run registration or licensing systems that link specific firearms to their owners. A separate federal database does exist for a narrow category of weapons regulated under the National Firearms Act, such as suppressors and machine guns. Whether the government has a record tying you to a specific firearm depends on where you live and what you own.
What Federal Law Actually Prohibits
Under 18 U.S.C. § 926(a), no federal regulation may establish a system of registration covering firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926 – Rules and Regulations The Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986 added that language, and it is the core statutory barrier to a national database.
Annual spending bills reinforce the ban. Provisions commonly called the Tiahrt Amendments prohibit the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from spending appropriated funds to consolidate or centralize the records that licensed dealers maintain.2Congress.gov. Firearms-Related Appropriations Riders The practical effect is that transaction records stay scattered across thousands of licensed dealers rather than sitting in a single searchable file.
The prohibition binds only the federal government. States are free to build their own systems, and several do.
What the Government Keeps When You Buy a Gun
Even without a registry, purchases from a licensed dealer generate records. Knowing where those records live is the difference between an accurate picture of the system and a rumor.
ATF Form 4473
Every purchase from a licensed dealer generates an ATF Form 4473, the Firearms Transaction Record.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Updated ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record It captures your name, address, date of birth, and the make, model, serial number, and caliber of the firearm. The dealer keeps the form on file for at least 20 years after the sale.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 27 CFR 478.129 – Record Retention For a sale that never closes, the form is kept for at least five years.
The ATF cannot pull these forms into a central database. Agents may inspect a dealer’s records during compliance audits or request specific forms during a criminal investigation. When a dealer closes for good, the records ship to the ATF’s National Tracing Center within 30 days and are used only to trace firearms recovered at crime scenes.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fact Sheet – National Tracing Center
The NICS Background Check
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), run by the FBI, tells the dealer whether you fall into a prohibited category, such as a felony conviction or an active restraining order. It returns a proceed, deny, or delay. It is not built to log what you bought.
Federal regulations require identifying information from an approved NICS check to be destroyed within 24 hours after the dealer receives the go-ahead.6eCFR. 28 CFR 25.9 – Retention and Destruction of Records in the System The transaction number and date survive up to 90 days for audit purposes. Denied transactions are retained longer because they may indicate an illegal purchase attempt.
Private Sales
Federal law imposes no recordkeeping requirements when two private individuals, neither of whom holds a dealer’s license, buy or sell a firearm between themselves. No Form 4473, no NICS check, no paper trail. About 20 states plus the District of Columbia close that gap by requiring private sales to run through a licensed dealer, who then handles the check and paperwork. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon are among them. If you live in one of those states, even a sale to a neighbor generates a government-accessible record.
States That Register Firearms
A small number of jurisdictions go beyond background checks and require the firearm itself to be recorded with a government agency. If you live in one of these places, or you are moving to one, the details matter.
Hawaii
Every firearm in Hawaii, serviceable or not, must be registered with the county police department within five days of acquisition.7Justia. Hawaii Code 134-3 – Registration, Mandatory, Exceptions Firearms acquired from someone other than a licensed dealer must be physically inspected by the county chief of police or a designee at the time of registration, and firearms brought into the state from elsewhere go through the same process.8Hawaiʻi Police Department. Firearm Services
California
California does not label its system a registry, but it functions as one. Every dealer sale or transfer runs through the Dealer’s Record of Sale (DROS) system, which records the buyer’s personal information and the firearm’s make, model, and serial number with the state Department of Justice.9State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Regulations: DROS Entry System Anyone moving to California with firearms becomes a “personal firearm importer” and must submit a New Resident Report of Firearm Ownership within 60 days of establishing residency. Missing that window can result in criminal prosecution.10State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Firearms Information for New California Residents
District of Columbia
Washington, D.C., requires a valid registration certificate for every firearm a person possesses or controls within the District. Simple possession without a certificate is illegal.11D.C. Law Library. DC Code 7-2502.01 – Registration Requirements The Metropolitan Police Department handles the process.
Maryland
New Maryland residents must register all “regulated firearms,” primarily handguns, with the Secretary of State Police within 90 days of establishing residency. A $15 nonrefundable fee covers the registration regardless of how many firearms are on the application.12Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Public Safety Code 5-143 – Registration The data is not open to public inspection.
New York
New York uses a licensing framework that reaches the same result. Handgun possession requires a license specifying the weapon by its unique characteristics, and assault weapons must be registered with a five-year recertification. Either way, the state holds records linking specific firearms to their owners.
Connecticut
Connecticut required existing owners of assault weapons to register them by a state deadline, and machine guns must be registered annually with the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit. New residents who arrive in Connecticut with an assault weapon cannot register it. Within 90 days they must sell it to a licensed dealer, render it permanently inoperable, transfer it out of state, or surrender it to law enforcement.13Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. What Are the Rules and Regulations for Firearms in Connecticut
The One True Federal Registry: NFA Weapons
The largest exception to the federal prohibition covers weapons regulated under the National Firearms Act of 1934. Machine guns, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and destructive devices must all be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR), a centralized federal database maintained by the ATF.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5841 – Registration of Firearms Possessing an unregistered NFA item is a federal felony.15Congress.gov. The National Firearms Act and P.L. 119-21: Issues for Congress
Registration means filing ATF forms (Form 1 to manufacture or Form 4 to transfer), submitting fingerprints, and passing a background check. Some owners register NFA items to a gun trust rather than to themselves as individuals; every “responsible person” named in the trust submits prints and photographs, and any trustee can then legally possess the item.
The $0 Tax Stamp Starting in 2026
Effective January 1, 2026, P.L. 119-21 sets the making and transfer tax to $0 for all NFA firearms except machine guns and destructive devices.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns lose the $200 fee. Machine guns and destructive devices still carry it. The registration requirement, background check, fingerprint submission, and waiting period all remain.15Congress.gov. The National Firearms Act and P.L. 119-21: Issues for Congress Only the price changed for most categories.
What This Means for You
In most states, buying a standard rifle or shotgun from a dealer creates a Form 4473 that sits in the dealer’s filing cabinet for at least 20 years. The FBI’s NICS record of the approved check is destroyed within 24 hours. No state agency has your name tied to that specific firearm unless your state independently requires it, and a private sale in a state without universal background check laws leaves no government record at all.
In Hawaii, California, D.C., Maryland, New York, and Connecticut, the picture flips. Your firearms sit in a government database, sometimes down to the serial number, and missing a registration deadline can carry criminal penalties. If you are planning a move to any of these jurisdictions, look up the specific deadline and process before you cross the state line. The clock starts the moment you establish residency.