The Department of Justice will cut down on various gun regulations, including narrowing the requirements to be considered a licensed seller, just days after Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Robert Cekada’s confirmation by the Senate.
On Wednesday, Cekada and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche released 34 notices of final and proposed rulemaking aimed at cutting down on some gun regulations, in line with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14206, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.”
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“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” Blanche said in a statement. “This Department of Justice is ending the weaponization of federal authority against law-abiding gun owners. We will continue to vigorously defend their rights as the Constitution demands.”
“ATF’s mission is to protect public safety and enforce the law – and these reforms reflect our commitment to doing that through regulations that are clear, legally sound, and narrowly tailored to that purpose,” Cekada said, adding that the bureau would focus on “willful violators and criminal actors,” rather than “inadvertent compliance issues by responsible owners and licensees.”
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Blanche also acknowledged that it would take time to go through and streamline extensive gun regulations put in place by past administrations.
“But it’s also not as clunky as taking forever,” he added.
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Blanche stressed that the 34 rules marked the largest number of rules instituted “in the last 15 years combined,” though he preempted critics by arguing, “nothing we are doing today weakens law enforcement.”
The DOJ’s press release said the new revisions were focused on streamlining the process and making life easier for gun owners. The overhaul was characterized as instituting “simpler, clearer regulations.”
One change will be to end the 2023 rule that restricted pistol braces, which was struck down in federal court. The attachments allow operators to keep the weapon against their shoulder while firing. The Biden administration said use of the pistol brace essentially turned the firearm into a barreled rifle, which is subject to stronger regulations.
