State Blueprints: Restoring Gun Industry Accountability
The federal government is rolling back gun safety regulations. Here’s how your state can protect itself from gun violence.
President Trump’s second term has been marred by uncertainty and chaos. Lost in the deluge of disarray has been a lot of action regarding guns and gun violence since he took office—and, as expected, all of it is terrible for the safety of Americans.
This post is part of an ongoing series exploring policies states have the responsibility to pursue in the wake of these dangerous federal rollbacks. Our recommendations provide a blueprint for states to follow, including a list of concrete steps and model laws state lawmakers should use.
State Blueprint: Restoring Gun Industry Accountability
Effective oversight of the gun industry is a cornerstone of preventing gun violence—including regulating gun dealers and holding the industry accountable for irresponsible practices. While federal efforts in both areas are not nearly as strong as they could be, these weaknesses have been exacerbated by the Trump administration’s actions.
But states can fight back. By implementing comprehensive state licensing for gun dealers and enacting gun industry accountability laws, states can help fill in the dangerous void left by federal inaction and build a safer future for their residents.
The ATF & Federal Gun Dealer Regulations
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the primary federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws. A well-functioning ATF is essential for any meaningful federal effort to combat gun violence. Its responsibilities include:
- Licensing federal firearms dealers (FFLs).
- Tracing firearms used in crimes.
- Supporting shooting investigations.
- Regulating certain firearms and accessories like machine guns and auto sears.
- Overseeing the gun industry to ensure compliance with the law.
However, the ATF has been severely underfunded and understaffed for years, making it nearly impossible to do its job properly. As of FY 2021, the ATF employed only 729 industry operations investigators to oversee approximately 131,000 FFLs, including over 78,000 gun dealers.
As a result, the ATF consistently fails to meet its goal of inspecting dealers at least once every three years. In practice, some FFLs go over a decade without an onsite inspection. It also has a serious senior leadership problem, or lack thereof—the ATF has had only three Senate-confirmed directors since 2006, rendering its standard functions incredibly limited.
Relatedly, the Gun Control Act of 1968 is the primary federal law governing firearm dealers. It requires individuals or businesses engaged in manufacturing, importing, or dealing firearms to obtain a federal firearms license (FFL). The licensing process involves background checks on “responsible persons” associated with the business, and once licensed, FFLs are subject to federal regulations like:
- Conducting background checks on potential buyers through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or an approved state point-of-contact system before transferring a firearm.
- Maintaining detailed records of all firearm acquisitions and dispositions.
- Reporting lost and stolen firearms to the ATF within 48 hours of discovery, as well as reporting specific events like the sale of multiple handguns to the same individual within five business days.
- Permitting ATF investigators to conduct compliance inspections of their premises, inventory, and records during business hours.
While these requirements provide a baseline, federal oversight suffers from significant limitations and gaps, including:
- Failing to require background checks for gun sales by unlicensed sellers (e.g., at gun shows or online) makes it easier for prohibited individuals to acquire firearms.
- Restricting the ATF’s ability to implement more proactive oversight measures.
- Failing to require background checks and safety training for all dealer employees who may handle firearms.
- Failing to provide specific requirements for crucial security measures at gun stores, such as secure firearm storage protocols to prevent theft.
These inherent structural weaknesses suggest a historical reluctance at the federal level to implement comprehensive oversight of the firearms market.
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
The firearms industry operates under a unique shield from legal accountability, which typically incentivizes industries to prioritize safety and take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable risks.
In 2005, the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) granted gun manufacturers and sellers unprecedented immunity from many civil lawsuits. It generally bars lawsuits against the industry based on the premise that a manufacturer or seller should not be held liable for harm caused by the unlawful misuse of their legally sold products by third parties.
This broad immunity protects the industry from many traditional negligence or public nuisance claims, even in cases where their marketing or distribution practices contribute to foreseeable violence. As a result, there is a dangerous “race to the bottom” in terms of firearm industry business practices, with dealers incentivized to behave irresponsibly for the sake of profit, knowing they will often not be held accountable for their behavior and are forced to compete with other businesses in the same situation.
Since taking office, Trump has done everything in his power to weaken the ATF, leaving it “rudderless, leaderless and demoralized.” He refuses to nominate a full-time director, has reassigned agents away from their core mission to pursue his extremist immigration agenda, plans to cut more than $400 million from its budget, and has proposed merging the ATF with the Drug Enforcement Administration—a move that would weaken both agencies significantly.
Perhaps most notably, the Trump administration has also ended the ATF’s “zero tolerance” policy, which revoked the licenses of gun dealers who had willfully broken the law and was a prudent tool for combating gun trafficking and straw purchasing. Diverting personnel and creating uncertainty about the agency’s future and leadership cripples its capacity to enforce existing federal laws, investigate gun trafficking networks, and crack down on reckless business practices by firearm dealers.
Additionally, Trump’s Department of Justice is reportedly preparing to significantly cut the already limited number of inspectors who monitor federally licensed gun dealers, sharply curbing the government’s capacity to identify businesses that sell guns to criminals. Its plan is to eliminate 541 of the estimated 800 investigators responsible for determining whether federally licensed dealers are following federal law.
A system with built-in gaps and an under-resourced enforcement agency becomes profoundly ineffective when that agency is also destabilized and its mission deprioritized. States cannot simply wait for federal enforcement to improve; they must address both the regulatory content gaps left by federal law and the enforcement deficit created by the diminished capacity and priority of the ATF.
Implement Comprehensive State Licensing for Firearm Dealers
To address the inadequacies of federal oversight and counteract the impact of a weakened ATF, states should establish their own comprehensive licensing systems for firearm dealers. State dealer licensing enables states to establish standards that exceed the federal minimums and provides a crucial layer of oversight, independent of federal enforcement capacity. These components can include:
- Enhanced Operational Requirements: Mandating specific, robust protocols for the secure storage of firearms inventory, as well as requiring comprehensive criminal background checks and firearm safety training for all employees who will have access to or handle firearms, not just owners or managers.
- Improved Record-Keeping and Reporting: Implementing state-level requirements for meticulous record-keeping and mandating the prompt reporting of any lost or stolen firearms directly to state and local law enforcement, in addition to the federal requirement for ATF notification.
- Regular State-Level Inspections: Authorizing and funding a designated state agency (e.g., state police, Department of Public Safety, or a specialized regulatory body) to conduct regular, unannounced compliance inspections of licensed dealers. These state inspections should occur more frequently than the often-delayed ATF inspections and focus on compliance with both state and federal laws.
- State Enforcement Authority: Granting clear authority to the designated state agency to enforce state regulations, issue penalties for violations, and suspend or revoke state licenses for serious or repeated non-compliance. This ensures accountability regardless of federal enforcement priorities.
Implementing such state-level licensing requirements provides an essential check on firearm dealer operations within the state and ensures that firearm dealers operate responsibly. The following table clearly illustrates the significant gaps in the federal framework and how targeted state licensing provisions can directly address these weaknesses, creating a more robust regulatory environment.
Enact State Gun Industry Accountability Laws
States should enact specific gun industry accountability laws to establish clear standards of responsible conduct for firearm manufacturers and dealers operating within their jurisdiction. These laws complement regulatory efforts through state dealer licensing and empower those harmed by gun violence to seek justice in court, as well as create a significant financial incentive for the gun industry to adopt safer business practices—deterring conduct that contributes to illegal gun trafficking and violence.
As of publication, only nine states have gun industry accountability laws: California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington. States looking to develop their own laws can and should use these existing ones as a roadmap.
These state statutes work by defining specific obligations and prohibitions related to the manufacture, sale, distribution, and marketing of firearms within the state. A model law:
- Establishes a standard of conduct that includes reasonable controls such as employee training, screening, physical security, and developing responsible marketing inventory practices.
- Identifies who is authorized to sue (generally consisting of victims, state attorneys general, county counsels, and district attorneys).
- Requires the industry to follow responsible best practices (e.g., precautions to ensure they do not provide firearm products to downstream distributors or retailers who do not adhere to industry standards of conduct).
- Prevents firearm industry members from distributing “abnormally dangerous products” that are specifically designed for assaultive purposes rather than for recreation or self-defense.
Let’s say a gun manufacturer or seller knowingly violates one of these state-specific statutory requirements and those firearms are subsequently used to cause harm. (For instance, by repeatedly selling firearms to obvious straw purchasers despite clear warning signs and in violation of a state law requiring reasonable prevention measures.) Then victims, survivors, or public entities (like a municipality or the state through the attorney general) can file a lawsuit arguing that the manufacturer or seller knowingly violated a state statute applicable to the sale or marketing of firearms, and this violation led directly to the harm suffered.
Furthermore, enacting strong accountability laws in key states can encourage national manufacturers and distributors to adopt practices that comply with the strongest state standards they face, rather than attempting to navigate a complex patchwork of varying requirements. In this way, proactive state legislation can effectively raise the bar for industry practices nationwide.
Despite the volatile federal landscape, hope resides in the proven power of state action. States have the responsibility—and opportunity—to mitigate the deadly consequences of federal rollbacks by restoring gun industry oversight.
We know fewer people die from gun violence in states that care enough to pass gun safety laws. And it’s especially true for children—between 2011 and 2023, states with strong gun laws saw a decrease in children dying from guns, while states with weaker gun laws saw an increase in children dying from guns.
Solving this crisis is a matter of willpower. And GIFFORDS Law Center is ready and able to help. We work with state partners across the country to implement lifesaving legislation and help protect states’ hard-won progress on gun safety. Reach out today if you have questions, thoughts, or are ready to start drafting legislation.
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