The Trump administration is scrapping more than three dozen firearms regulations, abandoning a crackdown on illegal sales, restoring gun rights to some people with mental illness and loosening oversight of private weapons transactions.
The drastic retrenchment at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws, was not entirely unexpected: President Trump campaigned as a champion of gun rights.
In the view of critics and even some A.T.F. veterans, the agency, in closely mirroring the demands made by gun owners and manufacturers to lighten their regulatory burden, is enacting changes at the expense of public safety. The moves, they worry, come as the bureau has already been weakened, with hundreds of its officials diverted to immigration enforcement.
I can’t stand how journalists will write something like that and then not include an itemized list.
Yes, they give some examples, but I want the whole list without having to dig through the federal register myself.
It matters because some of it is bad, while some is neutral, and some is good.
I actually looked it up myself on the ATF’s website, which is actually really well set up.
https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/atf-launches-new-era-reform
There are only 4 rules that are being “scrapped”, and they aren’t even actually full rules being removed, just altered. 3 of them are to conform with court cases. The only 1 they are removing on their own is a rule that was meant to be temporary to inform people of a rule change back in the 90’s (making pistols only 21+). Since that change is 30 years old, now, it isnt new, so there’s no need to pretend it is.
Given the massive gulf between that, and the 36 mentioned in the article, I have to wonder if you’re missing a chunk of data
They list all 36 things, but the majority of them are basically clerical updates, like removing the requirement for forms to be submitted in triplicate because copy machines (and scanners) exist.
Also, making bootleg vape cartridges get treated the same way as bootleg cigarettes.
Most of the changes (and I read through all of them) are mostly neutral updates that are more about clarifying policies and updating stuff thats outdated. There is some negative stuff, like adhering to the “gender ideology” executive order on forms.
Despite what republicans claim, Trump isnt really a gun rights guy. In fact, one of the rules being scrapped is his rule against bump stocks from his first term, because it was ruled against by the courts.
Yeah, The first sentence on the atf website says “ATF launched a new era of reform in 2025…” and the rest of the page is listing the “new era actions taken.”
It does say it was updated in May 2026, which is somewhat recent, but there’s nothing that indicates this page is listing everything they’re currently doing.
All changes will be in the federal register, so if there is anything missing from the page, you could find it in the register without much trouble.