The Trump administration is advancing a sweeping firearms regulatory rollback that would reverse Biden-era gun dealer rules, loosen mailing restrictions for handguns and limit when federal officials can revoke gun licenses.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump administration is moving forward with a broad rollback of federal firearms regulations, targeting several Biden-era rules affecting gun owners, gun dealers and the firearms industry.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the package is intended to modernize federal firearms regulations and reduce burdens on lawful gun owners and businesses while preserving law enforcement authority.
In late April, ATF announced nearly three dozen final and proposed regulatory changes following President Donald Trump’s order to review federal regulations affecting firearms ownership and the gun industry.
One of the most significant proposals would repeal a 2024 Biden administration rule that broadened the definition of who is considered a firearms dealer under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. That rule was promoted by gun control advocates as an effort to close the so-called gun show loophole by requiring more sellers to obtain federal licenses and conduct background checks.
The Trump administration is seeking to eliminate that rule, arguing the repeal would align ATF regulations with the laws passed by Congress.
Gun control groups sharply criticized the proposal.
“This is, to us, absolutely the gun industry’s wish list,” Kris Brown, president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, told Axios.
Brown also noted that firearms industry leaders were present when the rollback proposals were announced.
Supporters of the changes say the Biden-era regulations created unnecessary burdens for lawful firearms owners and businesses without improving public safety. A recent investigation by The Trace found that prosecutions of people accused of dealing firearms without a license did not significantly increase after the Biden rule took effect.
Other Trump administration proposals would ease rules governing firearm transportation, remove a requirement that licensed dealers provide youth handgun safety notices and revise the standards used to determine when a firearms dealer can lose a federal license.
Separately, the U.S. Postal Service is considering a rule that would allow individuals to mail handguns under the same standards that currently apply to lawful rifle and shotgun shipments.
That proposal follows a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion concluding that the long-standing federal prohibition on mailing handguns is unconstitutional.
The National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm backed the change, saying the existing ban causes “massive and needless headaches for law-abiding gun owners.”
Opponents warn that allowing handguns to be mailed more broadly could increase risks involving theft, trafficking and illegal transfers.
Another proposed rule would narrow the definition of who is considered mentally unfit to possess firearms. In the proposal, ATF acknowledged that the “risk may be minimal, or may be considerably greater (up to and including potential mass casualty events).”
Brown said the agency’s own language shows officials understand the potential public safety concerns.
“They know that violent crime is likely to go up,” Brown told Axios. “They know it’s going to hinder law enforcement, and they do it anyway.”
She also said ATF knows “it raises the risk of mass shootings.”
Gun rights advocates and industry organizations praised the regulatory package. In a press release, National Shooting Sports Foundation Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane called the rollback “the dawning of a new era.”
ATF denied that the changes were designed to satisfy the firearms lobby.
“The repeal of the regulation has no effect on the scope of the law and signals that ATF will abide by the laws enacted by Congress,” an agency spokesperson told Axios.
Daniel Webster, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions, disputed that assessment.
“This is a green light to the segment of the gun industry that profits from crime and gun violence,” Webster said.
Brown said her organization expects the rollback to represent a major setback for gun control policy.
“We think it is going to be the worst delivery of regression in the history of the country in terms of gun violence prevention,” she said.
The proposed changes place the Trump administration on a direct collision course with gun control advocates while delivering a major policy shift sought by gun rights groups and the firearms industry. If finalized, the rules would reshape federal firearms enforcement by reversing Biden-era requirements, loosening handgun mailing restrictions and narrowing the circumstances under which dealers and some individuals face federal firearms limits.
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