"Engaged in the Business" Recission (Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs))
The prohibition against unlicensed dealing is a statutory criminal prohibition. ATF’s enforcement authority against unlicensed dealing comes from the law (the Gun Control Act as amended by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act), not from the 2024 rule. The repeal of the rule should have no effect on any ATF trafficking prosecutions. It remains unlawful for a person to “deal” in firearms without a federal firearms license, that is, to intend a pattern of repeated buying and selling motivated predominantly by profit. ATF continues its efforts to identify those operating outside of the law and, working with our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s offices, to bring these individuals to justice.
No. the repeal of the regulation has no effect on the scope of the law. Repealing the regulation signals that ATF will abide by the laws enacted by Congress. Our commitment to enforce the law remains intact.
Frame or Receiver (Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs))
ATF is still conducting legal reviews for other, more technically challenging rules. If changes are needed following the review, a proposal will be published. As with all proposals, they will go through the full notice-and-comment process.
No. If the review determines that changes are needed, the proposal will be published.
General (Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs))
This effort is pursuant to the President’s Executive Order directing a review of the regulations to protect Second Amendment rights. ATF has been examining all regulations to determine whether they are the best interpretation of the law reflecting the intent of the Congress and consistency with the Second Amendment and whether they impose any unnecessary burdens on public without enhancing public safety.
The goal of the review was to execute the President’s Executive Order, which sought to ensure that every regulation ATF enforces is legally sound, operationally effective, clearly written, and fairly administered.
This package of proposed and final rules is simply a compilation of those regulations for which all reviews and clearances were achieved. Neither the rules themselves nor their compilation is meant to reflect any particular regulatory priority or administrative aim. ATF is still conducting legal reviews for other rules and, when those proposals are ready to be released, they will be.
Per the Executive Order, we will continue to analyze our regulations to ensure that they are clear and reflective of court rulings and modern business practices. Additional proposals will be released for public comment as they become ready.
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) generally requires agencies to publish proposed rules (NPRMs) and allow for public comment before finalizing them. Most rules in this package follow that process and were published as NPRMs. The APA also contains limited exceptions that allows an agency to forgo notice and comment for good cause. ATF relied on this exception to issue a few final Rules where the changes are technical in nature and do not alter substantive rights or legal obligations of the public. ATF used these alternatives only where legally appropriate and where the record supported the conclusion that a full notice-and-comment process was not necessary.
Comments should be submitted electronically via Regulations.gov. To submit a comment, go to Regulations.gov and search r using the RIN that can be found at the top of the rulemaking document beginning with 1140. You will find the relevant RIN listed under the “Dockets” tab. Click “Comment” on the relevant docket and complete the online form. Attach any supporting documents, data, or analysis as PDF or Word files. Comments may also be submitted by mail to the ATF address listed in each Federal Register notice (hand-delivered comments will not be accepted); however, electronic submission via Regulations.gov is preferred and ensures the fastest, most reliable processing.
After the comment period closes, ATF’s regulatory and legal staff review the full comment record. ATF then prepares a final rule that responds to the significant issues raised in comments, explains any changes from the proposed rule, and sets an effective date for compliance. Final rules are published in the Federal Register, and the Code of Federal Regulations is updated with the changes instructed by the final rule. The time between the close of a comment period and publication of a final rule varies depending on the complexity of the comments received, the number of changes required, and the interagency review process. ATF will not prejudge timelines but is committed to completing the final rulemaking process efficiently.
Interested parties may sign up for Federal Register alerts through www.federalregister.gov. For major developments, such as the publication of final rules or significant amendments to proposed rules, ATF will issue press releases and update its social media channels.
Political Involvement (Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs))
No. This effort is pursuant to the President’s Executive Order 14206 directing a review of the regulations to protect Second Amendment rights. ATF has been examining all regulations, including those that are not the best interpretation of the statutes or that impose unnecessary burdens or are otherwise inconsistent with the Second Amendment. Every rule in this package was reviewed by DOJ and proposed rules will go through a full public comment period before anything is finalized.
This is not about politics; it’s about the law. These rescissions involve rules that federal courts, who operate independently of the administration, have vacated or enjoined. Other proposed rules reflect a legal and operational review that concluded the prior approaches didn't achieve their objectives. That is how regulatory governance is supposed to work.
None of these rules were drafted directly or indirectly by any member of the gun industry. The ATF review was directed by Executive Order 14206, signed by President Trump. ATF conducted the regulatory analysis internally, with DOJ oversight. Through the normal course of outreach, ATF has heard from a wide range of stakeholders, including industry, law enforcement partners, and legal experts, regarding their concerns on regulations and guidance. As with any rulemaking process, ATF has considered these concerns when developing its regulatory proposals, but no single group drove the outcome.
ATF is legally prohibited from predetermining the outcome of a rulemaking. The comments received are part of the administrative record that any final rule must be based on. Courts have repeatedly vacated rules where agencies failed to genuinely engage with public comments. ATF will seriously consider any relevant comments from all parties, regardless of affiliation or their position on any of the proposed rules as drafted.
No. Regulatory modernization and enforcement are separate functions. ATF remains fully committed to enforcing all applicable federal laws governing firearms and explosives, including the Gun Control Act, the National Firearms Act, and the Safe Explosives Act. Updating regulatory text to reflect current law, court decisions, or technological capabilities does not diminish ATF’s enforcement authority or intent. In fact, clearer, more legally durable regulations support more effective enforcement, reducing the risk that prosecutions are undermined by challenges to the underlying regulatory framework.
Public Safety (Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs))
No. None of these proposals would change who is prohibited from possessing a firearm. These are administrative and regulatory changes to processes and definitions, not changes to the underlying prohibitions that keep firearms out of dangerous hands. ATF does not believe any recently released proposed rules will jeopardize public safety.
We’d have to refer you to talk to them directly. What we can tell you is that ATF’s commitment to rooting out violent crime is stronger than ever. Our relationships with state, local, and federal law enforcement are central to our mission. Any concerns raised during the comment period, regardless of who they’re coming from, will be considered.
Stabilizing Brace Rescission (Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRMs))
Whether a specific firearm is regulated as a short-barreled rifle under the NFA depends on the statutory definition enacted by Congress, codified at 26 U.S.C. 5845, not an ATF rule. Pursuant to federal law, a firearm is a rifle if it is designed and intended to be fired from the should. The proposed rescission would remove the changes ATF made to the regulatory definitions of “rifle” in 2023 to further clarify the meaning of “design and intended to be fired from the shoulder.” The 2023 final rule has already been vacated or enjoined across multiple jurisdictions. The proposed rule does not however make a categorical legal determination about every object that a person might label a “brace.”
The question of whether a weapon that is attached with something labeled as a “brace” is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder is a factual question. ATF has to examine the individual firearm to make a classification. What ATF can and proposes to do is to remove a rule that courts found did not hold up. That is the appropriate action for a regulatory agency operating within the rule of law.
ATF is not targeting law-abiding citizens using braces. However, if a firearm meets the NFA’s statutory definition of a short-barreled rifle, NFA requirements apply.
