Gun Violence Prevention groups including Brady, Everytown for Gun Safety, and GIFFORDS have submitted their first 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 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 even explicitly acknowledges the risks 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.
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