National gun violence prevention groups file formal comments to dangerous ATF rule rollbacks

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, Brady, and Everytown for Gun Safety, submitted its first sets of joint public comments opposing proposed federal rules that would significantly weaken firearms regulations and increase the risk of gun violence nationwide. The organizations warned that the proposed rules —  the bulk of which were announced in April by the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)  with the backing of the gun industry — would dismantle critical protections designed to keep firearms out of the hands of people legally prohibited from possessing them. 

The organization’s comments respond to several of the nearly three dozen federal proposals to roll back longstanding ATF safeguards, including allowing online gun sales to be delivered by mail without in-person verification, weakening background check requirements, loosening restrictions on certain highly lethal firearms, and enabling the destruction of gun sales records that law enforcement relies on to solve crimes. One proposed rule explicitly acknowledges the stakes involved, warning that implementation could result in “mass casualty events.” 

The groups stressed that the danger lies not just in the individual proposals, but in how the rules will work in concert. Combined with recent policy shifts, the organizations warned that the rollbacks would accelerate the creation of an  “Amazon of guns,” where firearms can be purchased online and shipped directly to buyers with minimal human interaction and reduced opportunity to identify dangerous purchasers. Notably, Donald Trump Jr. ‘s online firearm marketplace, GrabAGun — itself marketed as the  “Amazon of guns” — is positioned to financially benefit from the changes.

Emma Brown, Executive Director of GIFFORDS, said: “The Trump administration’s proposed rules will roll back critical protections that have helped stop gun trafficking and gun crimes. The fact that gun violence is at a low across communities isn’t by happenstance. It takes effort and investment from our country’s leaders to decide that saving American lives is worthy of investment. The announcement clawing back lifesaving efforts was made side-by-side with firearms industry representatives and sent the unmistakable message that these rules serve the gun industry, not the American public. ATF should be enforcing the law to protect people, including law enforcement who will also be put at risk by these thoughtless actions, not rewriting it to protect gun industry profits.”

Brady President Kris Brown said: “These are not technical adjustments — they are sweeping structural changes that will reshape how guns are bought and sold in America, a country where guns outnumber people. At a time when gun crime is falling and homicide has reached a 100-year low — thanks in part to effective firearm policies — these changes will reverse hard-won progress and cost lives. They will make it easier for prohibited purchasers to obtain guns, harder for law enforcement to solve and prosecute gun crimes, and even admittedly likely that so-called ‘mass casualty events’ take place in communities across the country. Rolling back common-sense safeguards in the face of America’s gun violence crisis is unconscionable, and we will continue working to ensure these dangerous measures do not move forward.”

John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety, said: “Not only is there no public safety justification for the Trump administration’s dismantling of the rules that keep guns out of dangerous hands, but the Justice Department itself admits these changes could make mass casualty events more likely. Together they add up to an ATF that can’t do its job, a DOJ that doesn’t want it to, and an Administration willing to sell out on public safety for the right price. The gun safety movement will use every tool at our disposal to hold the Trump Administration accountable and ensure the next Congress is ready to hit the ground running with rigorous oversight of ATF.”