https://www.oann.com/newsroom/...dens-for-gun-owners/

OAN Staff Addie Davis and Brooke Mallory
4:46 PM – Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Following his Senate confirmation by a 59–39 vote on Wednesday, Robert Cekada officially assumed his role as the director of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and immediately moved to implement a pro-Second Amendment (2A) regulatory overhaul.

This transition was pronounced by a joint announcement with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who introduced a package of 34 proposed and final rules at a Wednesday press conference.

These reforms, part of a larger initiative titled the “New Era of Reform,” are designed to shift the agency’s focus toward industry partnership and reduce the administrative burdens placed on law-abiding gun owners and businesses.

The new regulatory framework includes significant changes, such as allowing joint spousal ownership of National Firearms Act (NFA)-regulated items without the need for a legal trust and removing the requirement for owners to seek advance approval for the short-term interstate transport of registered firearms.

During the announcement, Blanche emphasized that the Second Amendment should not be treated as a “second-class right” and further stated that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is committed to ending the weaponization of federal authority, seen during the previous Biden administration, targeting responsible American citizens.

By repealing rules that exceeded statutory authority and streamlining complex paperwork, the agency aims to provide greater clarity and eliminate the “zero tolerance” approach that previously penalized dealers for minor clerical errors.

Cekada, a career agent who has served as the bureau’s deputy director for the past year, reaffirmed that the ATF’s mission will now prioritize the pursuit of willful criminals while respecting the Constitutional rights of lawful owners.
“… So that everyday Americans don’t need a law degree just to understand their rights,” Blanche said. “For too long regulations were written without any real understanding of how firearms businesses operate, how lawful gunowners actually handle their firearms or what truly improves public safety … The Second Amendment will never be treated as a second-class right in the Trump administration,” he continued.

Blanche continued, noting that the 34 proposed rules represent a larger regulatory volume than the ATF has issued over the previous 15 years combined.

By consolidating these reforms into a single package, the DOJ intends to demonstrate a notable break from past policies, replacing a decade and a half of incremental adjustments with a singular, sweeping effort to streamline federal firearms regulations.

The ATF has posted summaries of the new regulations, which include:

1) Repeal Biden's pistol brace rule
2) Revising "engaged in the business" rule
3) Revising machine gun definition in response to Cargill decision
4) Remove requirement for FFLs to post info about Youth Handgun…

— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) April 29, 2026
Cekada also asserted that the rules put forward are “clear, common-sense regulations that rescind, modernize or clarify language within the National Firearms Act, the Gun Control Act and more.”

Following his remarks, Cekada signed the packages of proposed rules while an official explained each category.

Rescinding regulatory language that exceeds statutory authority, failed judicial review, or did not achieve their intended outcomes. This includes repeals or major revisions of several Biden-era rules, such as the pistol brace rule and parts of the “engaged in the business” rule.
Updating ATF’s compliance and recordkeeping framework to reflect current technology and modern business practices.
Eliminating administrative requirements that impose unnecessary costs on law-abiding gun owners and firearms businesses.
Resolving regulatory ambiguity to provide clearer, more consistent guidance to licensees, applicants, and the public.
Conforming ATF’s regulatory text to reflect statutory changes, recent judicial decisions, and actions by partner agencies.
Both Blanche and Cekada emphasized that the work to review and revise regulations is ongoing. Blanche also credited the origins of this regulatory overhaul to a February 2025 executive order (EO) issued by President Trump.

The directive was designed to halt federal infringement on Second Amendment rights by mandating a comprehensive review of all firearm-related orders, regulations, and administrative actions implemented during the Biden administration.

Linky no worky.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Linky no worky.

Interesting. That was the link I sent from my phone to my laptop that was directly from OAN. Either way it has been fixed. Do note if you read the article on OAN it freezes up your computer. I guess because of all the lousy cookies and ads.

Link and website working fine at the moment. (Win10/Chrome)

This goes to the ATF/DOJ site.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=...2wWe9CMIzW20aKPcNoNB
DOJ and ATF Announce Regulatory Reforms to Reduce ...

Department of Justice (.gov)
https://www.justice.gov › opa › doj-and-atf-announce-r...

It's a start

https://x.com/gunpolicy/status/2049570666362671316



The ATF has posted summaries of the new regulations, which include:

1) Repeal Biden's pistol brace rule
2) Revising "engaged in the business" rule
3) Revising machine gun definition in response to Cargill decision
4) Remove requirement for FFLs to post info about Youth Handgun Safety Act
5) Revising 4473 form, including allowing electronic forms and increase the time NICS checks remain valid
6) Allow FFLs to keep electronic records
7) Replace indefinite retention of 4473s with definite time periods of 20 or 30 years
8) Allow “Non-Over-the-Counter” firearm sales by FFLs to residents of the same state
9) Repeal interstate NFA transport notice requirement for trips under 365 days, with all others no longer requiring approval before transport
10) Joint NFA registration for married couples
11) Remove NFA CLEO notification
12) Clarify that "common, reasonably necessary activities during travel" are covered by FOPA transportation protection
13) Allow import of dual-use frames, receivers, and barrels
14) Clarify that "training rounds" are not ammunition
15) Eliminate engraving requirement for people making NFA firearms out of existing serialized guns
16) "Clarify that a person receiving assistance in only one functional area (such as financial management) would not, on that basis alone, be considered prohibited" under mental health disqualifier
17) Requiring biological sex on ATF Forms
18) Clarify when a transaction is a straw purchase
19) Formally define "willfully" for firearms violations
20) "Remove the list of former Soviet countries from which ATF currently denies applications to permanently import most firearms and ammunition, retaining only the Russian Federation"

https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-...nches-new-era-reform

Thank you…..I guess.

Wasn't the pistol brace rule settled already? Or is this a different issue? The one I remember was they were trying to say braces need to have SBR paperwork.

It would be nice if they submit a no-contest filing agreeing with a current lawsuit that the NFA regarding SBRs and silencers be nullified now that there is no NFA taxation anymore.

Good

quote:

8) Allow “Non-Over-the-Counter” firearm sales by FFLs to residents of the same state

I don't understand this one.

And what was with the "reside in city limits" question on the 4473?

House Appropriations 2027 Funding Bill Ends Suppressor, Short Barrel Rifle Registration
THURMONT, MD

The 2027 funding bill released by the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee ends NFA registration requirements for suppressors and short-barreled rifles (SBRs).

You may recall that language in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) removed registration for suppressors and SBRs early on, but that language was later removed, resulting only in the removal of the $200 tax stamp fee.

House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Andrew Clyde (R) responded by showing that the tax was the basis for registration and that now, with the tax gone, the registration should be gone as well. But the registration of suppressors and SBRs has continued since the OBBB took effect, and the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee is trying to end it.

On Wednesday Clyde posted to X, “I secured a measure in the OBBB to zero out NFA taxes for short-barreled firearms and suppressors. $0 tax = Zero registration. Yet the DOJ is currently defending this NFA registration. While litigation is ongoing, your tax dollars shouldn’t fund invalidated NFA requirements.”

Moreover, Gun Owners of America noted that the 2027 funding bill not only deregulates suppressors and SBRs, but also defunds regulatory gun controls instituted by the ATF during the Biden administration.

The funding bill defunds “Biden export restrictions,” among other things.

https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-...tm_campaign=20260430

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

8) Allow “Non-Over-the-Counter” firearm sales by FFLs to residents of the same state

I don't understand this one.

If I'm understanding it correctly, it would likely also need State sanctioning. For you, it would be where (say) a store in Memphis, at the other end of Tennessee, had a pistol for sale. You could complete a e-4473, and upon approval, have it sent to your home, bypassing you driving across the state or dealer-dealer transfer in your town. I could definitely see the usual suspect States prohibiting this.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
Wasn't the pistol brace rule settled already?

It’s confusing. Based on what the YouTube “Armed Attorneys” channel has discussed relatively recently, the question has drifted back to how they are used. Evidently simply having a brace on a pistol is no longer subject to legal attack, but (evidently, again) there has been at least one attempted prosecution for “shouldering” and firing a gun with a brace like a rifle. That is, it may be at the point that a brace can serve a legitimate, legal purpose for firing a pistol as it’s supposed to be, i.e., with one hand, but it may not be used to fire the gun in an illegal manner.

I didn’t see any detailed explanation, but I got the impression that in the absence of a clear law or even specific DoJ ruling, a local ATF agent/agency could go to a local prosecutor and claim that they have they right to enforce a policy/rule that has never been specifically addressed. “The rule has never been overturned, and by golly, I’m going to enforce it.”

The problem of course is that regardless of how a case may be adjudicated, it costs the Government nothing to charge someone, but the defendant will be severely impacted by the action.

(I know that’s not really very helpful, but perhaps will serve as a starting point for more research by someone who’s interested in the question.)

Rules and policies can be changed at will by whoever is in charge, and I still remember the confident predictions made years ago that gun control was the “third rail” that Democrats were never going to touch again. One of the ironies of the Supreme Court rulings about certain aspects of the infringements is that they evidently motivated the oppressors to find ways of harassing us and interfering with our right in ways that aren’t Constitutionally protected. “Want a gun? Fine, but you need to store it in a $100,000 vault to keep it secure. Ammunition? Sure, with a 250% tax on its purchase.”

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:


The ATF has posted summaries of the new regulations, which include:
*snip*
6) Allow FFLs to keep electronic records
7) Replace indefinite retention of 4473s with definite time periods of 20 or 30 years
*snip*

That bugs me a bit. Paper records used to need to be saved for seven years (maybe still for the time being?), now they want 20-30 years?
Sorry, but that looks like a turd in the punch bowl to me.

At one time Dillon Precision sent out marketing brochures that included an admonition to “Vote like a gun owner.” If that had ever been true, i.e., every gun owner had voted like a gun owner, we wouldn’t be having any of these discussions because the infringement efforts would have truly died decades ago. But ….

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
The ATF has posted summaries of the new regulations, which include:
*snip*
6) Allow FFLs to keep electronic records
7) Replace indefinite retention of 4473s with definite time periods of 20 or 30 years
*snip*

That bugs me a bit. Paper records used to need to be saved for seven years (maybe still for the time being?), now they want 20-30 years?
Sorry, but that looks like a turd in the punch bowl to me.

FFLs currently need to retain paper records of 4473s and 'Bound Books' until they the ATF yanks their license and/or they go out of business, at which point the ATF shows up to collect such records. So indefinitely...

How is this change a 'turd in a punch bowl'? Any chance you're thinking of Income Tax records when you indicate 'paper records used to need to be saved for seven years'? The ATF operates a bit differently than the IRS.

Nearly everything on there is a win for me, my collection and my habits. At the very least, some of this is ho-hum, but most of it is positive in my book.

Even little quality of life improvements like not needing the dumbass permission to travel interstate with an SBR when I go for training. That just makes my life easier.

No complaints here at all.

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:


The ATF has posted summaries of the new regulations, which include:
*snip*
6) Allow FFLs to keep electronic records
7) Replace indefinite retention of 4473s with definite time periods of 20 or 30 years
*snip*

That bugs me a bit. Paper records used to need to be saved for seven years (maybe still for the time being?), now they want 20-30 years?
Sorry, but that looks like a turd in the punch bowl to me.

old rule was 20 years, new rule was lifetime of the company

lots of large FFL's will get the ATF to issue a new license and then ship the pallets of old 4473;s from the now old license, back to the tracing center

so storage is moot for them

quote:

posted by sigfreund: At one time Dillon Precision sent out marketing brochures that included an admonition to “Vote like a gun owner.”

I remember that, but not quite that way. My recollection is a single article in their newsletter/catalog The Blue Press, c. 2000, entitled "If You Don't Vote Like a Gun Owner, You Suck!"