Will DOGE Deliver an Independence Day Gift to Gun Owners?

The Department of Government Efficiency is turning its attention to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and we could see dozens of regulations be tweaked in favor of gun owners and the firearms industry or eliminated altogether as early as next week.

The Washington Post reports that DOGE staffers have been working with ATF officials, including General Counsel Robert Leider, on an overhaul of the plethora of regulations that are in place, and are hoping to complete their work (or at least this round) by July 4.

The initial target was to change 47 regulations, an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s status as the 47th president of the United States, two of the people said. But ATF and DOGE staffers are now poised to exceed that goal, with upward of 50 changes planned.

The revisions are part of a seismic shift unfolding at ATF as the Trump administration proposes slashing the law enforcement agency’s budget and dramatically reducing the number of inspectors who ensure that gun sellers are in compliance with federal laws. Some Republicans in Congress have called for abolishing the agency altogether, and Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she wants to merge ATF with the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

The exact scope and details of the potential changes are still being determined. ATF has hundreds of regulations, and revisions could include changing the responsibilities of certain ATF positions, updating what types of firearms can be imported, and making licensing fees refundable.

We’ve already seen some changes to regulations this week, like the ATF easing imports of dual-use barrels and training rounds. It sounds like that’s just a preview of what’s in store, though, and there’s much more to come.

I’m hoping that alongside the changes to regulations, we’ll also see an annoucement about starting the formal repeal of every rule that Joe Biden and former ATF Director Steve Dettelbach put in place. We’ve been told that’s in the works for several months now, and next week would be a great time to announce that the rule treating unfinished frames and receivers as completed firearms will be going away, along with the pistol brace rule and the “engaged in the business” rule treating almost every private gun seller as an unlicensed gun dealer. 

Unlike regulations, ATF rules can’t be changed (or imposed) with a stroke of a pen. New rules typically have to go through a public comment period before they’re published in the Federal Record, so the repeal of the Biden-era rules won’t happen overnight, even if we do get an announcement about one or more of the rules next week. 

In addition to dozens of regulation cuts, Leider and his team are planning to change the legally mandated 4473 Form that most buyers are required to fill out when purchasing a firearm, shrinking it from the current seven pages to as few as three pages. Gun sellers are required to keep the records and have them readily available if law enforcement needs them to trace a gun during a criminal investigation or if ATF inspectors visit to see if the seller is complying with federal laws. 

… People familiar with the potential changes said the form instructions would be truncated and that some of the questions to determine if a potential buyer is legally allowed to own a firearm may be condensed into one large “yes” or “no” question. For example, separate questions ask people to answer if they have been committed to a mental institution, have been dishonorably discharged from the military or are an unlawful user of drugs.

These and others could be combined into one question under the potential changes, two people familiar with them said. The question asking if the potential buyer is a felon would remain a stand-alone question. 

“I know we are going to see changes to the 4473 and we are getting close, that’s in process,” Larry Keane — the general counsel of National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms trade association — said on the “Bearing Arms Cam & Co” podcast this week. “People just need to be a little patient, give ATF chief counsel some time in dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s and the internal review that has to take place. But people will be pleased as we move forward, and I think we will see significant progress in correcting bad rulings.”

Hey, I know that podcast! 

Simplifying the 4473 would be nice, and a big benefit to FFLs, who are currently required to keep ahold of those forms and other records indefinitely. 

I’m sure that gun owners and the firearms industry will be pleased with all of the upcoming changes, and I’m excited to see what gets announced next week. The Trump administration really has brought about some fundamental and hopefully long lasting changes to the agency. It will take some time to undo the damage done by Joe Biden, Steve Dettelbach, and the gun control lobby that turned the ATF into a gun control group with law enforcement powers, but they’re off to a good start… and it sounds like things will be even better a week from now.