On April 7, the Trump Administration formally revoked the Biden-Harris Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for inspections of federal firearm licensees (FFLs). The edict ended a bureaucratic reign of terror that was costing small business people their livelihoods over harmless clerical errors in the voluminous paperwork that accompanies regulated gun sales. Also announced were a review of two anti-gun administrative rules from the prior administration, one on the status of braced pistols under the NFA and another on who is required to become an FFL to sell guns. These moves continue the rollback of anti-gun policies perpetrated under Biden-Harris and signal a significant, pro-gun shift by the Trump Administration.
We have extensively reported on the Trump administration’s early pro-gun moves, including here, here, here, here, here, and here. All these actions followed a Feb. 7 Executive Order by the President entitled “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.” The president directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review several categories of actions by the prior administration to “assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens.” She was then supposed to report back to the White House with a “proposed plan of action to … protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.” While that report has not been made public to date, it’s clear the Trump White House has wasted no time translating the recommendations into actions.
Zero Tolerance was among the most infamous Biden-era tactics against a gun industry he had publicly declared “the enemy” during a televised debate. The policy supposedly targeted “willful” violations of a specified list of infractions, including transferring a firearm to a prohibited person; failing to conduct a required background check; falsifying records, such as a firearms transaction form; failing to respond to a trace request; and refusing to permit ATF to conduct an inspection. A single such violation would, under the policy, presumably result in revocation of the FFL’s license.
While those violations, on their face, seem rather serious, and while “willfulness” is supposed to put the government to a high burden of proof, that is not how the policy worked in practice. Falsifying records, for example, could translate simply to making a mistake in any of the dozens of inputs necessary to complete an ATF Form 4473, the document used when a firearm is sold from a dealer to an unlicensed person.
Failure to conduct a required background check, moreover, didn’t necessarily mean FFLs were selling guns out of the back door without paperwork, but could include a situation where there was legitimate confusion over the rules. For example, federal law specifies that certain firearm-related permits, including some carry licenses, provide an alternative to the background check normally required. There can also be misunderstandings over when an FFL is required to run a background check when returning a gun to its owner after storage, consignment, or repair.
The government’s required showing of “willfulness” is supposed to prevent exploiting innocent mistakes by FFLs acting in good faith from being used against them. But under the Biden-Harris Zero Tolerance policy, ATF turned this doctrine on its head by claiming the specified “zero tolerance” violations inherently demonstrated willfulness.
By all accounts, the policy represented, in the words of anti-gun propaganda site The Trace, a “crackdown that triggered the steepest increase in gun store license revocations in [ATF’s] history.”
An announcement published on April 7 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives quoted Attorney General Pam Bondi as saying: “The prior administration’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy unfairly targeted law-abiding gun owners and created an undue burden on Americans seeking to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms – it ends today.”
This presumably means ATF will return to its prior practice of conducting inspections in a more wholistic manner that considers the facts and circumstances of each case and allows for remedial measures to be taken where the FFL was operating in good faith.
The April 7 announcement also noted that DOJ and ATF have plans to revisit the regulatory framework surrounding stabilizing braces (Final Rule 2021R-08F) and the definition of “engaged in the business” of firearms dealing (Final Rule 2022R-17F).
NRA-ILA had opposed both of these rules as exceeding ATF’s statutory authority, creating confusion, and causing legal traps for law-abiding gun owners.
The announcement continued: “The DOJ and ATF will conduct an in-depth review over the coming months and will engage in consultations with stakeholders, including gun rights organizations, industry leaders and legal experts. Further updates on the status of these reviews will be released in due course.”
ATF Acting Director Kash Patel stated: “Today’s repeal of the Zero Tolerance Policy and the comprehensive review of stabilizing brace regulations and the definition of ‘engaged in the business’ marks a pivotal step toward restoring fairness and clarity in firearms regulation,” He also noted ATF’s commitment “to working with all stakeholders to ensure our policies are balanced, constitutional and protective of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
NRA-ILA commends the administration for these significant steps and looks forward to participating in the review process. Happier days for gun owners and the industries that serve them appear to lie ahead.
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