Attorney General Bonta Opposes ATF Proposals That Weaken Federal Firearm Regulations and Put California Communities at Risk

Fifteen comment letters sent in a coordinated response to ATF's recently proposed rulemaking actions

OAKLAND - Together with partner states, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the submission of 15 multistate comment letters challenging new rules proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that would comprehensively weaken and dismantle federal firearm regulations. On April 29, 2026, ATF announced 34 rulemaking actions - the most the agency has ever introduced at one time - that ATF refers to as a "New Era of Reform." ATF's package includes proposed and final rules affecting nearly every part of the federal government's existing firearm regulatory scheme. Attorney General Bonta partnered with other states on a coordinated response to highlight significant safety dangers and procedural flaws in 20 of these 34 proposals.

"Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens. ATF should be stepping up to strengthen firearm industry oversight and enforcement tools, instead of comprehensively gutting vital protections and undermining the work of law enforcement," said Attorney General Bonta. "We urge ATF to withdraw the challenged proposals and preserve transparency, accountability, and enforcement. At the California Department of Justice, we are proud to co-lead this multistate effort and we remain committed to working alongside our partners to defend essential safeguards, uphold responsible gun ownership, and protect the safety and well-being of all Californians."

California and its multistate partners submitted comment letters opposing 20 actions, with California co-leading a letter with New York concerning five proposed rules related to the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. The NFA regulates firearms and devices considered especially dangerous for civilian possession, including machine guns, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, silencers, destructive devices, and certain modified or disguised firearms. The law requires registration of these weapons in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record and imposes requirements governing their manufacture, transfer, and interstate transportation. The challenged rules would make it easier to transport certain weapons across state lines without federal approval, eliminate law enforcement notification requirements, and remove separate maker-marking requirements for converted firearms. These changes would particularly threaten public safety in states like California, where many NFA weapons are independently prohibited under state law.

California also joined 14 other multistate comment letters that address 15 proposed rules, which, if implemented, would:

• Allow more individuals to purchase and possess firearms after they are found to be dangerous to self or others, or unable to manage their affairs, as a result of their mental health condition. Existing federal law and regulations prohibit firearm access by people who have been found to be dangerous to self or others or incapable of managing their own affairs as a result of their mental health condition. ATF has proposed a rule to sharply narrow this category, such as by authorizing people to possess firearms after they are found not guilty by reason of insanity in a criminal case unless the person is also formally and involuntarily committed to a mental institution as a result of that insanity verdict. ATF admits in its own comments that these proposed changes could jeopardize public safety. The ATF's analysis states: "This risk may be minimal or may be considerably greater (up to and including potential mass casualty events)."
• Create loopholes for gun trafficking and straw purchasing.Subject to narrow exceptions, federal law requires the person purchasing the firearm from a licensed dealer to attest that they are the actual purchaser of the firearm. Congress also enacted a new criminal statute in 2022 that makes it a crime to acquire a firearm through a "straw purchase" on behalf of a person who is legally prohibited from buying firearms. This proposed ATF rule creates new categories of exemptions that would authorize people to purchase firearms they intend to transfer to other people who never passed a background check and are not recorded on the record of sale.
• Weaken the Brady Act background check process. The bipartisan Brady Act of 1993, enacted after the attempted assassination of President Reagan, requires firearm dealers to conduct point of sale background checks on most buyers. ATF proposed a rule to authorize more individuals to qualify for exemptions from this background check requirement by lowering the bar for which state-issued permits apply for an exemption.
• Authorize more gun dealers to operate without licenses or background checks. ATF proposed a rule that would allow more individuals to repeatedly sell firearms for profit without obtaining a federal firearms dealer license, conducting background checks, or keeping sale records.
• Erodes identity checks for gun buyers who do not shop in person. ATF proposed a rule that would significantly expand online firearm sales and remove in-person transaction requirements that provide an important touch point for dealers to identify suspicious behavior by customers who may be engaged in gun trafficking or pose a risk to themselves or others.
• Undermine ATF's ability to hold gun dealers accountable for illegal conduct. Federal law allows the ATF to revoke the license of a gun dealer who "willfully" violates federal law. The ATF now wants to make it harder to prove a "willful" violation and strip dangerous and irresponsible dealers of their licenses. The states argue this change contradicts decades of settled law and would gut the federal licensing system that keeps guns out of the wrong hands.
• Make it easier to import military-style weapons and parts. Through two separate proposals, the ATF wants to make it easier to import guns and gun parts into the country. One would permit the import of "non-sporting" - that is, military-type - weapon parts, such as barrels, frames, and receivers from AK-47s and similar firearms, as long as the part could theoretically be used in some other sporting configuration. The other would allow companies to bring these weapons into special trade zones for virtually any purpose. The states argue both proposals violate the plain text of federal import laws and were adopted without consideration of the public safety consequences.
• End posted warnings about the dangers of handguns to children. The ATF has proposed eliminating a decades-old rule requiring firearm dealers to post notices informing buyers about the importance of safely storing firearms to prevent unsupervised access by minors and make clear that transferring a handgun to a minor is generally illegal.
• Create dangerous confusion over stabilizing braces.Stabilizing braces can be used to convert pistols into more lethal, shoulder-fired weapons. The ATF wants to rescind a rule that clarified how these devices are regulated, without creating any replacement. The states argue that leaving a regulatory vacuum is reckless because the ATF failed to weigh the public safety costs and the enforcement confusion that will result.
• Allow banned gun accessories to cross state lines. Federal law protects the transport of firearms and ammunition across state lines during travel. The ATF proposed a rule to add vague new language covering all "reasonably necessary activities incidental to interstate travel" and improperly expand the law to permit individuals to transport banned accessories - like large-capacity magazines and rapid-fire modification devices -through states that prohibit them.
• Undercut the firearms transaction record relied on by law enforcement to solve gun crimes. The ATF Form 4473 is the record a licensed dealer must complete for every firearm sale, and it is a critical tool for law enforcement in investigating gun crimes. ATF has proposed rules to weaken identity verification, background check, and certification requirements on this form, including by removing the requirement that dealers certify that they do not know or have reason to believe the buyer intends to sell or transfer the firearm to a prohibited person, and removing the requirement that the dealer review and record information from the purchaser's ID document on the Form 4473. The proposed rule also loosens multiple other requirements related to purchaser state-of-residence verification requirements and doubles the window during which a background check remains valid from 30 days to two months.
• Undermine firearm tracing through form changes. The ATF seeks to change how "sex" is recorded on every ATF form. The states argue this proposal harms public safety by impeding law enforcement's ability to trace firearms and conflicts with state law and policy. The rule will also have significant effects on transgender and gender non-binary purchasers, who will be required to provide information about their biological sex, which is not congruent with state-issued gender markers on their ID and in other state databases. Ironically, the proposed change may interfere with an individual's right to lawfully purchase firearms and exercise their Second Amendment right. The proposal will also create confusion and violates the APA.
• Destroy records needed to solve crimes. Currently, records tracking the chain of custody and sale of firearms must be kept indefinitely. The ATF wants to require their destruction after just 20 or 30 years. The states warn this would result in the loss of records essential to tracing crime guns and prosecuting criminals, directly harming public safety and law enforcement investigations and prosecutions.

The multistate coalition was led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington joined all or most of these letters.