For decades, state and local law enforcement have relied on ATF as the nation’s lead agency in protecting communities from firearm trafficking and reducing gun violence. Even though ATF has been underfunded for decades,¹Chelsea Parsons, Eugenio Weigend Vargas, and Rukmani Bhatia, “Rethinking ATF’s Budget to Prioritize Effective Gun Violence,” Center for American Progress, September 17, 2020, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/rethinking-atfs-budget-prioritize-effective-gun-violence-prevention/. it has consistently helped identify and dismantle gun trafficking networks. In recent years, ATF made significant progress in addressing gun traffickers and the dealers that supply them by instating a 2021 policy under which ATF would revoke licenses of gun dealers who willfully violate certain federal laws,²Biden-Harris White House, “Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gun Crime and Ensure Public Safety,” June 23, 2021, https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/23/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-comprehensive-strategy-to-prevent-and-respond-to-gun-crime-and-ensure-public-safety/; ATF, “Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy,” accessed January 17, 2025, https://web.archive.org/web/20250117171012/https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/enhanced-regulatory-enforcement-policy. and implementing an intelligence-driven approach to gun dealer inspections and trafficking investigations. 

However, in 2025, the mission of ATF was drastically undercut, with its resources shifted away from firearm trafficking and violent crime. Approximately 80 percent of the 2,500 ATF Special Agents who are specifically trained to investigate firearms trafficking have been reassigned to immigration enforcement duties,³Bob Ortega and Allison Gordon, “Gun Crime Cases Fall as Agents Shift to Immigration Crackdown,” CNN, October 15, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/15/us/trump-immigration-atf-gun-cases-invs. and the successful 2021 “zero tolerance” policy was also reversed.⁴ATF, “DOJ, ATF Repeal FFL Inspection Policy and Begin Review of Two Final Rules,” press release, April 7, 2025, https://www.atf.gov/news/press-releases/doj-atf-repeal-ffl-inspection-policy-and-begin-review-two-final-rules; ATF, “Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy,” April 8, 2025, https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/enhanced-regulatory-enforcement-policy. 

With the federal government pulling back from efforts to identify and interrupt trafficking activity and hold traffickers accountable,⁵ATF, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” May 21, 2025, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/protecting-second-amendment-rights. state and local leaders can help combat trafficking by utilizing a comprehensive strategy that includes: 

• Using data to identify and interrupt trafficking: States and local law enforcement should collect data through comprehensive crime gun tracing and ballistic evidence to help identify gun trafficking activity and patterns.
• Implementing robust regulatory oversight of gun dealers: States should enact laws requiring gun dealers to obtain a state license, implement security measures to prevent theft, send sale records to state officials for retention, and conduct annual background checks and training for dealers and their employees, as well as authorizing regular inspections of gun dealers by state or local officials and authorizing disciplinary action against dealers who violate the law.
• Enacting foundational gun safety laws that deter trafficking: States should enact laws requiring background checks on all gun sales, creating a waiting period before a gun sale can be completed, limiting the number of guns an individual can purchase per month, and allowing for the prosecution of straw purchasing and trafficking.