May 22, 2025 – Shortly after beginning his second term earlier this year, President Trump indicated a commitment to protecting Second Amendment rights. Specifically, the White House issued a press release in which President Trump set forth his plan to “end the federal government’s violation of Americans’ fundamental Second Amendment right to protect themselves, their families, and their freedoms.” Included among the plan is that the Trump administration will (i) “halt existing policies designed to curtail the clear right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms”; (ii) have the Attorney General “complete a specific review of all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, and other actions by the Biden Administration regarding firearms . . .and deliver a plan of action to the President to eliminate all infringements on Americans’ Second Amendment rights”; (iii) resolving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (“ATF”) “zero tolerance” policy, which “led to a nearly six-fold increase in enforcement actions against Federal Firearms Licensees”; and (iv) addressing whether “[f]irearms manufacturers have been de-banked or denied services simply because they make guns.”
On April 7, 2025, the ATF announced the end of the “zero tolerance” policy, which unjustly sought to destroy the lives and business of firearms industry members often due to minor clerical errors that never involved a threat to public safety. The ATF later announced in May 2025 that it replaced the “zero tolerance” policy with “a new administrative action policy” that “provides a fair framework for addressing violations uncovered by a compliance inspection, particularly when those violations do not impact public safety.” Additionally, on May 21, 2025, the ATF posted on its website that, “Federal firearms licensees that surrendered their licenses, had their licenses revoked, or had their applications denied” based on the “zero tolerance policy” may reapply and those applications will be reviewed based on this new policy.
On April 8, 2025, the Attorney General announced the creation of a Second Amendment Enforcement Task force designed to “protect the fundamental right secured by the Second Amendment” through “developing and executing litigation strategies to advance, protect, and promote compliance with the Second Amendment.”
Recently, on May 16, 2025, the Department of Justice announced its settlement of litigation with Rare Breed Triggers and related cases concerning whether the forced reset trigger, through which semi-automatic rifles can fire at a faster rate, constitutes a machinegun under federal law. The settlement provides that Rare Breed Triggers can continue selling its forced reset triggers, but will not develop or design any such product for a pistol, “will enforce its patents to prevent infringement that could threaten public safety,” and will “promote the safe and responsible use of its products.”
Renzulli Law Firm will continue to monitor this administration’s efforts to protect the Second Amendment and members of the Firearms industry. If you have any questions, please contact John F. Renzulli or Christopher Renzulli.