Chuck Darwin@cdarwin@c.im

The Trump administration is scrapping more than three dozen firearms regulations,
abandoning a crackdown on illegal sales,
restoring gun rights to some people with mental illness
and loosening oversight of private weapons transactions.

The drastic retrenchment at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws, was not entirely unexpected:
Trump campaigned as a champion of machismo and violence.

In the view of critics and even some A.T.F. veterans, the agency is enacting changes at the expense of public safety.
The moves, they worry, come as the bureau has already been weakened, with hundreds of its officials diverted to immigration enforcement.
nytimes.com/2026/07/05/us/poli

A gun show in Phoenix last January. New rules include ending the so-called gun show loophole, which required background checks for guns shows and certain private sales.www.nytimes.comTrump Administration Rolls Back Dozens of Gun RegulationsCritics say the administration is weakening public safety. Proponents say regulations would be where they were before President Joseph R. Biden took office.