The Trump administration has introduced a policy that could further damage its popularity. The new proposal aims to reduce regulations, allowing sellers to bypass licensing and background check requirements.
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Reps. Lucy McBath and Jamie Raskin expressed their concerns in a letter to the ATF Director:
Congress has consistently worked—on a bipartisan and bicameral level—to enhance background checks, fight illegal gun trafficking, aid in tracing crime guns, enhance the accountability of firearms dealers, and stop firearms from falling into the hands of dangerous individuals.
Recently, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to improve the national background checks system, close loopholes allowing firearms to be obtained without proper scrutiny, reduce gun violence, and expand mental health services. These measures have led to a historic decrease in violent crime, including a 44% drop in homicides that began in 2022—two years before Donald Trump started his second term—and continues. Your proposed regulations would reverse this progress. The ATF’s proposed rules would make it easier for prohibited buyers to acquire firearms, complicate law enforcement’s efforts to solve gun crimes and trace crime guns, and relax the standards for who must become a federally licensed firearms dealer.
Despite presenting himself as tough on crime, the president’s policy would facilitate easier access to guns for criminals. Notably, one individual who stands to gain financially from this policy is Donald Trump Jr.
