ATF Regulations: April 2026 Reform Package, Repeals, and Court Rulings

ATF regulations sit in Title 27, Chapter II of the Code of Federal Regulations and govern firearms commerce, National Firearms Act items, explosives, and tobacco trafficking. In April 2026, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released 34 proposed and final rules — the largest single batch of firearms regulatory changes in the agency’s history — repealing several Biden-era rules, modernizing dealer paperwork, and easing compliance burdens on NFA owners and licensees.¹ The package was developed under Executive Order 14206, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” signed February 7, 2025, which directed a review of every DOJ and ATF rule issued between January 2021 and January 2025.²

What ATF Regulations Cover

The agency’s regulatory authority is split across a handful of CFR parts, each tied to a different statute.³

Firearms Commerce: 27 CFR Part 478

Part 478 implements the Gun Control Act of 1968. It covers federal firearms licensing for manufacturers, importers, dealers, and collectors; background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; recordkeeping requirements including the Form 4473 transaction record and acquisition-and-disposition logs; the categories of prohibited persons; and the rules for interstate sales and transfers.⁴

NFA Items: 27 CFR Part 479

Part 479 implements the National Firearms Act of 1934, which regulates machine guns, suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and destructive devices. It sets out the application procedure for making or transferring an NFA firearm, special occupational taxes, import and export requirements, and the registration protocol.⁵

Explosives: 27 CFR Part 555

Part 555 regulates the manufacture, import, sale, transport, and storage of explosive materials under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 40. Federal licenses are required for manufacturers, importers, and dealers, and permits for users. All explosive materials must be kept in locked magazines classified into five types based on the kind of explosive stored, from permanent facilities for high explosives to portable day-boxes for temporary attended use. Licensees must inspect their magazines at least every seven days, notify the ATF before constructing new storage, and maintain separation distances from inhabited buildings and highways based on the quantity stored.⁶

Tobacco Trafficking

Most alcohol and tobacco tax and trade regulation moved to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau at Treasury in 2003, but the ATF kept enforcement authority over tobacco trafficking. The agency enforces the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act and the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act, which apply to cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and electronic nicotine delivery systems in interstate commerce.⁷ Distributors must register with the ATF and state tax administrators, and the agency maintains a non-compliance list of violators barred from receiving tobacco shipments.⁸

The April 2026 Regulatory Reform Package

On April 29, 2026, the ATF and the Department of Justice released 34 notices of proposed and final rulemaking, characterized by the agency as the first in a planned series.⁹ Most of the 34 actions are proposed rules and must clear a public comment period, generally 90 days, before taking effect. The agency stated the package is designed to align regulations with current business practices and court precedent, clarify unsettled areas of law, and refocus enforcement on willful violators rather than inadvertent compliance errors.¹⁰

Rules Being Repealed or Rescinded

Three of the most prominent actions unwind regulations from the prior administration.

Stabilizing braces. The ATF proposed rescinding its 2023 rule that established a six-factor test for classifying firearms equipped with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles under the NFA. Multiple federal courts found the rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated it entirely in June 2024 in Mock v. Garland. The ATF acknowledged it “never actively enforced” the 2023 rule. The proposed rescission was published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2026, with comments open until August 4, 2026.¹¹

Bump stocks. A final rule removes two sentences from the ATF’s regulatory definition of “machine gun” that had classified bump stocks as machine guns. The change follows the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Garland v. Cargill, which held that bump stocks do not meet the statutory definition under the National Firearms Act.¹²

“Engaged in the business” definition. The ATF proposed repealing the fact-pattern presumptions added by a 2024 rule that expanded the definition of who qualifies as a firearms dealer. Specifically, the agency intends to remove provisions in 27 CFR 478.13(c) and 478.13(d)(2) that it said created a risk of improperly shifting the burden of proof. The statutory definition enacted by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 will be retained.¹³

Paperwork and Recordkeeping Changes for Dealers

A large portion of the package modernizes the forms and records federal firearms licensees must maintain.

The proposed revision of Form 4473 reorganizes the transaction record so that the buyer and dealer complete their sections sequentially, allows copies of identification documents to be attached digitally rather than transcribed by hand, combines race and ethnicity into a single question, and converts much of the form’s language into plain writing. The ATF estimates approximately 22.5 million respondents complete a Form 4473 annually.¹⁴

A separate proposed rule on electronic recordkeeping would formally authorize FFLs to generate, maintain, and store all required records electronically, including Form 4473 and acquisition-and-disposition logs. Systems would need to support auto-population, daily backups of Form 4473 data, audit trails logging every modification, and at least one computer terminal available for ATF inspectors during compliance visits.¹⁵

On record retention, the ATF proposed replacing the current indefinite retention requirement for Forms 4473 and A&D records with a defined period of either 20 or 30 years, and is seeking public comment on which timeframe to adopt.¹⁶ A direct final rule also eliminates the requirement that FFLs exchange certified paper copies of licenses during transfers, replacing it with the ATF’s electronic eZ Check verification system.¹⁷

NFA and Accessory Changes

Several proposals loosen requirements on owners of NFA-regulated items:

The requirement to file Form 20 for interstate transport of a registered NFA firearm would be eliminated for trips lasting 365 days or fewer.¹⁷
Married couples would be allowed to jointly apply for and possess NFA firearms without establishing a trust.¹⁶
The requirement for NFA applicants to send copies of their applications to local chief law enforcement officers would be eliminated.¹⁶
Individuals who create an NFA firearm by modifying an existing weapon, such as converting a rifle into a short-barreled rifle, could adopt the original manufacturer’s serial number and markings rather than engraving their own. The ATF estimates roughly $3.5 million in annual savings from eliminating professional engraving.¹⁸
A published ruling allows electronic signatures on NFA forms.¹⁷

Separately, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, reduced the federal making and transfer tax for NFA firearms other than machine guns and destructive devices to $0, effective January 1, 2026. The $200 tax stamp for suppressors and short-barreled rifles is gone. The NFA registration process itself, including background checks, fingerprints, and ATF approval, remains in place.¹¹

Dealer Enforcement Policy

In May 2025, the ATF formally replaced the Biden-era Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy, sometimes called the “zero tolerance” policy, with a new administrative action policy that emphasizes firearm traceability and public safety while de-emphasizing what the agency calls immaterial paperwork errors.¹⁹ FFLs whose licenses were revoked or surrendered under the old policy are invited to reapply and will be evaluated under the new standards.¹⁷

Other operational changes restrict the use of NICS alerts to federal firearms trafficking violations, establish a classifications board that requires director-level approval before new firearm classifications are published, and create a Senior Industry Partnership Advisor position within the director’s office to serve as a liaison with the firearms industry.¹⁷

Court Decisions Driving the Changes

Several rulings have reshaped what the ATF can and cannot regulate, and the 2026 package responds directly to them.

Ghost guns (Bondi v. VanDerStok). On March 26, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the ATF’s 2022 “frame or receiver” rule in a 7–2 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch. The rule requires serial numbers, background checks, and dealer licensing for ghost gun kits and unfinished frames or receivers that can be readily converted into functional firearms. The Court held that “weapon,” “frame,” and “receiver” in the Gun Control Act encompass unfinished objects whose intended function is clear, comparing ghost gun kits to starter guns that can be converted in under an hour. Justices Thomas and Alito dissented. The ruling left open the possibility of future challenges regarding specific kits too incomplete to qualify, but the regulation remains in effect.²⁰

Bump stocks (Garland v. Cargill). In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that bump stocks do not meet the statutory definition of “machine gun” under the National Firearms Act, invalidating the ATF’s 2018 regulatory ban. The April 2026 final rule removes the regulatory language classifying bump stocks as machine guns.¹²

Stabilizing braces (Mock v. Garland). The Northern District of Texas vacated the ATF’s 2023 brace rule in June 2024, and the current rescission proposal formalizes what the courts had already required.¹¹

Broader Second Amendment litigation continues to work through the courts under the framework the Supreme Court set in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which requires firearms restrictions to be evaluated against text, history, and tradition. Cases granted review at the Supreme Court now would likely produce decisions no earlier than late 2026 or early 2027.²¹

How to Comment on a Proposed Rule

Because most of the April 2026 actions are proposed rather than final, the regulations do not take effect until the ATF closes the comment window, reviews the input, and publishes a final rule with a specific effective date. The Administrative Procedure Act requires at least 30 days for comments; the current ATF proposals generally allow 90. Comments are submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov, where the public can also view comments already filed.²²

To read the regulations themselves, the ATF maintains an interactive eRegulations tool at regulations.atf.gov that lets users search current regulations, view their history at specific dates, and compare versions of a provision. The tool is an editorial compilation rather than an official legal edition; formal legal research should be conducted against the official electronic Code of Federal Regulations.³

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Department of Justice. DOJ and ATF Announce Regulatory Reforms To Reduce Burdens on Law-Abiding Gun Owners and Businesses
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The White House. Protecting Second Amendment Rights
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ATF. Regulations – Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
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ATF. 27 CFR Part 478 – Commerce in Firearms and Ammunition
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ATF. 27 CFR Part 479 – Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms
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ATF. Explosives Storage Requirements
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ATF. Tobacco Enforcement Fact Sheet
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ATF. PACT Act
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Department of Justice. DOJ and ATF Announce Regulatory Reforms
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ATF. DOJ and ATF Announce Regulatory Reforms
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Federal Register. Removing Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached Stabilizing Braces
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ATF. ATF Regulatory Reform – Repeal
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Federal Register. Revising Regulations Defining Engaged in the Business as a Dealer in Firearms
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Federal Register. Revision of ATF Form 4473
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Federal Register. Firearms Electronic Record-Keeping
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The Trace. ATF Gun Rule Changes Under Cekada
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ATF. ATF Launches New Era of Reform
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Federal Register. Allowing Makers To Adopt Certain Markings for NFA Firearms
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ATF. Protecting Second Amendment Rights
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SCOTUSblog. Supreme Court Upholds Regulation of Ghost Guns
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Duke Center for Firearms Law. SCOTUS Gun Watch
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ATF. Federal Register Actions