The Trump Administration has begun restructuring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with the help of Department of Justice employees, in an effort to dial back gun restrictions, according to NPR.
DOGE officials have been working with the ATF to modify approximately 50 regulations, including ensuring that a background check remains valid for 60 days rather than only 30, and allowing federally licensed firearm dealers to destroy records after 20 years, rather than retaining them indefinitely.
Those in support of the ATF and its regulatory ability have cited concerns of increased difficulty in solving gun crime, especially if firearm dealers delete their records after 20 years. The enforcement standards of the ATF, however, have been under fire, especially under the Biden Administration, where they began to enforce a zero-tolerance policy and would revoke licenses for minor clerical errors. The increased scrutiny by the Trump administration will prevent the agency from abusing its authority.
The regulatory changes are part of a broader goal of the Trump Administration to ensure Americans can maintain their 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Not only are certain regulations being dialed back, but President Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed a 25 percent reduction in the ATF's budget for the 2026 fiscal year, and the Big Beautiful Bill has provisions that will remove taxes on silencers and on certain types of firearms. If the ATF has its budget cut, it will lose up to 500 investigators, and according to the DOJ, it would reduce the ATF's ability to regulate firearms by about 40 percent, in a win for the 2nd Amendment.
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