Trump Administration Rolls Back Dozens of Gun Regulations

The New York Times ^ | July 5, 2026Updated 4:37 p.m. ET | Aishvarya Kavi

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Critics say the administration is weakening public safety. Proponents say regulations would be where they were before President Joseph R. Biden took office.

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.

Proponents of the changes point out that some of the reversals would return regulations to what they were only a few years ago, before President Joseph R. Biden took office. After a series of deadly mass shootings, Mr. Biden signed into law gun control measures, ending nearly three decades of gridlock over whether and how to regulate firearms.

The divisiveness illustrates the complicated landscape for gun policy.

“With the Biden regulations that we got and put in place, we advanced the ball,” said Kris Brown, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the country’s biggest gun control organizations.

But the Trump administration’s approach “takes us back 100 years,” she said. “It’s really decimating A.T.F.’s ability to regulate this industry.”

A White House official said the administration’s policies reflected Mr. Trump’s commitment to ensuring that Americans could exercise their Second Amendment rights, accusing the Biden administration of...

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TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 2a; 2ndamendment; aishvaryakavi; banglist; chat; chatforum; eplentyofspam; fakenews; kaba; newyorkslimes; notnews; nytspam; rkba; secondanendment; zot

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Some people won't be happy until they turn the United States into the Third World [insert deragatory term here] from which they fled.

[DoodleBob]

Sort of off-topic, but…

Critics say the administration is weakening public safety. Proponents say regulations would be where they were before President Joseph R. Biden took office.

Joseph R. Biden? Why such formality?

What’s up with that?

[Tench_Coxe]

"Critics say the administration is weakening public safety."

Critics say....
Experts say....
The science says....
Sources say....

My take: the Left wants their intended victims unable to defend themselves for whatever is planned.

[catnipman]

restrictive gun regulations pretty much only apply to law-abiding citizens, because criminals simply ignore laws and regulations: that’s why they’re called criminals.

IOW, when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns ...

[rktman]

Has someone looked up “infringe” in their funk and wagnells?

[Never trust a politician]

I will forgive President Trump *anything* as long as he gives me back the right to defend my person and property..

[MileHi]

restoring gun rights to some people with mental illness

Absolute BS

[TigersEye]

It’s a propaganda piece written by a foreign invader and published in a communist/globalist hate-America rag.

{spit}

[kiryandil]

Maybe Kris Brown can cry it off before a Muzzie grooming gang gets her mind right...

[MileHi]

Quite right

[kiryandil]

Yeah, Krissie Brown, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is a real hate-riot.

[paulcissa]

Absolute BS

To be fair, it is the NY Slimes.

[1035rep]

Federal Registration.gov
“Driven by a Trump executive order and subsequent DOJ rules, the government has built an online application portal to process up to a million restoration applications annually.Who It Impacts: The program primarily targets individuals with old, non-violent felony convictions (such as fraud or drug offenses).
The DOJ has already begun quietly restoring rights to dozens of individuals via notices in the Federal Register.”

[1035rep]

Stripping Bans Based on Financial Conservatorship

The ATF has proposed lifting restrictions on individuals who have been deemed unfit to manage their own Social Security or veterans’ benefits.

The Previous Rule: If the government appointed a fiduciary to handle someone’s finances due to mental incompetence, they were automatically reported to the background check system as a “mental defective” and barred from owning guns.

The New Rules: The ATF is removing this financial trigger, stating that needing help with your finances does not automatically mean you are a danger or unable to responsibly handle a firearm.

People who are formally adjudicated by a court to be a danger to themselves or others due to mental illness, or those found incompetent to stand trial, remain legally barred from possessing firearms.

[Inyo-Mono]

But the Trump administration’s approach “takes us back 100 years,” she said. “It’s really decimating A.T.F.’s ability to regulate this industry.”

One of the main reasons I voted for Trump, but I wish regulations were really rolled back 100 years to get rid of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

[SuperLuminal]

It’s a propaganda piece written by a foreign invader and published in a communist/globalist hate-America rag.
{spit}

Worth repeating...

[Disambiguator]

One of the main reasons I voted for Trump, but I wish regulations were really rolled back 100 years to get rid of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

Don't forget the NFA of 1934, too.

[Texas resident]

Yep. Prosecute the criminals who use firearms in criminal acts. Not the innocent bearers of firearms.

[sauropod]

bkmk

[Alas Babylon!]

The RIGHT of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.