See, I told you so.
The same day the United States Senate finally confirmed Robert Cekada as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the ATF announced 34 — that’s right, thirty-four — proposed rule changes designed to advance Second Amendment rights, reduce regulatory burden on the gun industry, and repeal some of the worst overreach from the Biden era. This was not a coincidence. This was a signal.
Why We Had to Wait for the Senate
I have explained before that much of the delay in ATF policy reform came down to one thing: a confirmed director. The Senate, not President Trump, is what held this up. Nothing changes at an agency of this magnitude without someone confirmed at the helm, and that confirmation turns entirely on when the Senate decides to act. John Thune’s Senate has now voted — and the moment Cekada was confirmed, the ATF moved.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche introduced Cekada at the press conference as a “huge gun guy with a large gun collection.” Also on stage was Robert Leider, the Assistant Director and Chief Counsel of the ATF, a Second Amendment scholar from Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. I have very little doubt that Leider spent many a night not sleeping writing these rules, and the Second Amendment community owes him serious credit.
I was personally invited to the Washington, D.C. press conference and chose not to attend, but I watched the livestream. Here is what Acting Attorney General Blanche said about where this administration stands:
“But let me reiterate that the Second Amendment will never be treated as a second-class right in the Trump administration. President Trump has been clear on this from day one. The Second Amendment is not negotiable. It is part of the foundation of this great country, and under his leadership, this administration, this Justice Department is acting on that belief. I want to make sure folks understand that the work that we’re talking about today is not finished today. We’re continuing to review every regulation, especially those from the previous administration, and we’ll keep putting forward additional proposals as that review continues.”
That is exactly the right posture — and the promise that more is coming matters as much as what was announced today.
Five Buckets: How to Think About All 34 Rules
The ATF itself organized these proposals into a framework, and it is the right one. Think of five buckets:
1. Repeal. The Biden stabilizing-brace rule is gone. The engaged-in-the-business rule is being revised back to the plain statutory language Congress actually passed. Changes are being made to the machine-gun definition in our favor. The worst of the Biden-era regulatory overreach is heading for the trash bin of history.
2. Modernizing. The ATF is streamlining and simplifying Form 4473 — the Firearms Transaction Record — so that ordinary gun owners who are not attorneys do not trip over innocent paperwork errors. The goal is a form that a regular American can fill out without a law degree and without risking their rights over a clerical mistake.
3. Reducing regulatory burden. Every regulation on the books is a tax. That is not a metaphor — it is an economic reality. Every rule requires compliance, which means time, accountants, lawyers, and overhead. Fewer rules means less cost and fewer traps for the law-abiding. Also going away: the Biden-era “zero tolerance” policy under which a single paperwork error could cost an FFL their license and their livelihood. That enhanced revocation policy has already been formally ended; this round reinforces its burial.
4. Clarifying. Ambiguity in the law is a weapon against the innocent. If a rule can be read two different ways, and you pick the wrong one by honest mistake, you can lose your license or worse. These proposals reduce that ambiguity so law-abiding gun owners and dealers are not trapped by unclear language.
5. Aligning with court decisions. This bucket brings ATF regulations into conformity with what the Supreme Court has actually held. Michael Cargill won a landmark victory on bump stocks in Garland v. Cargill, 602 U.S. 406 (2024). Bondi v. VanDerStok, 604 U.S. 458 (2025), addressed the frame-and-receiver rule. The ATF’s new rules need to reflect those decisions — and now they will.
A Few Items Worth Flagging
Beyond the five-bucket framework, a few specifics are worth noting. FFLs will no longer be required to post the Youth Handgun Safety Act Notice in their stores — an anti-gun propaganda requirement that had gun dealers displaying government messaging they never asked for. That requirement traces to the 1994 Youth Handgun Safety Act, not to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
On Form 4473, the proposed change addresses the sex question: applicants must answer based on biological sex. Self-identification will not be accepted.
The APA Reality Check
Now for the part I always have to say, because I am not in the business of blowing smoke: none of this happens overnight. These are proposed rules. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, they now enter a 90-day public comment period. After that, the agency must review all comments — potentially tens of thousands of them — address them, and issue a final rule. That is the process, for better or worse, and skipping it would just hand opponents a way to blow the rules up in court. The ball is rolling. That is what today means.
What Comes Next
The anti-gun groups are already freaking out about Cekada and these proposed rules, and I take that as a very good sign. When the other side panics, it is usually because something real just happened.
Credit goes to Robert Cekada for stepping into this role, to Robert Leider for the scholarship and the sleepless nights, to Todd Blanche for the clear and unambiguous statement from the podium, and to President Trump for keeping his word on the Second Amendment. More proposals are coming. The review continues.
Mark W. Smith is a constitutional attorney, member of the United States Supreme Court Bar, and host of The Four Boxes Diner. Watch the original video here.