By Steve Neavling
The Justice Department plans to eliminate more than two-thirds of the federal inspectors who oversee licensed gun dealers, a move that would severely limit the government’s ability to track illegal firearm sales, according to internal budget documents, The New York Times reports.
The proposal would cut 541 of the approximately 800 inspectors at the ATF, reducing the agency’s regulatory capacity by about 40% starting in November. The cuts are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to shrink and restructure the ATF, including a possible merger with the DEA.
If implemented, the staff reductions would gut a critical part of the ATF’s work. Currently, only a fraction of the nation’s 100,000 licensed dealers and manufacturers are inspected in any given year, and some go nearly a decade without oversight.
“These are devastating cuts to law enforcement funding and would undermine ATF’s ability to keep communities safe from gun violence,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.
ATF agents have already faced months of internal upheaval. Staff described the plan as a demoralizing blow, warning it could result in hundreds of layoffs and leave the agency largely ineffective as a firearms regulator.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has also begun rolling back several Biden-era gun control measures, including policies aimed at ghost guns, background checks on private sales, and pistol brace restrictions.
The ATF, once central to the Biden administration’s gun reform efforts, has lost top personnel and seen agents reassigned to immigration duties. Its leadership has been in flux, recently handed off to Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, an appointment reportedly made just days before it was announced.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the proposed cuts.
