The ATF has released its Fiscal Year 2024 Fact Sheet, giving the public a look at just how far the Biden-era “zero-tolerance” crackdown on Federal Firearm Licensees (FFLs) went — and how things are now finally starting to turn around under President Trump’s new administration.
ATF 2024 Fact Sheet
According to the report, ATF carried out 9,696 firearms compliance inspections last year. While more than half (54%) of FFLs inspected had no violations at all, hundreds of gun stores weren’t so lucky.
195 licenses were revoked, a 24% jump from the year before, while 1,488 more FFLs either surrendered their licenses or closed up shop — often facing pressure from minor clerical mistakes being treated like major crimes.
The now-repealed zero-tolerance policy, pushed by President Biden and his DOJ, allowed ATF agents to yank licenses for even small paperwork errors, like transposing a serial number or missing a date on an ATF Form 4473. This wiped out many small, law-abiding gun shops that previously would have simply corrected the errors after inspections.
President Biden famously smeared gun dealers as “rogue gun dealers” during a White House ceremony, claiming they were arming criminals — even though his own DOJ’s National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment showed FFLs were tied to only 1.6% of gun trafficking cases.
Now, thanks to Trump’s Executive Order demanding a review of any federal rules infringing on the Second Amendment, the zero-tolerance policy has been officially repealed. Cases of FFLs who lost their licenses under the old policy are being reopened and reconsidered, and many wrongly shut-down shops may get a chance to reopen.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) praised the move, calling the repeal “great news for the industry that provides for the lawful exercise of the Second Amendment.” NSSF also highlighted that the Biden administration’s crackdown had throttled small businesses with huge administrative costs just to fight over tiny errors that used to be fixed in good faith.
In addition to rolling back zero-tolerance, the DOJ and ATF are also reviewing the controversial “Engaged in the Business” and “Stabilizing Brace” rules, two more Biden-era policies that the courts have already begun striking down.
On the criminal side, ATF initiated 24,208 firearms cases in 2024, but only 7,432 were recommended for prosecution. Of those, 4,774 were indicted and 4,126 ended in convictions — about an 86% conviction rate, which is slightly below the overall federal average.
Meanwhile, the ATF’s taxpayer-funded budget ballooned to $1.6 billion for 5,322 full-time employees.
Bottom line: 2024’s numbers show just how aggressive the ATF’s enforcement was under Biden. But with a new administration, new leadership at DOJ and ATF, and major policy rollbacks already happening, there’s real hope that under ATF’s Acting Director Daniel Driscoll and Deputy Director Robert Cekada, America’s lawful gun industry will finally get some breathing room again.
As always, AmmoLand News will be watching and reporting as these changes roll out.
Gun Lobby Praises DOJ & ATF Announcement Eliminating Biden-Era ‘Zero-Tolerance’ Policy
ATF’s War on Gun Stores Ends, Zero-Tolerance Policy Repealed
if atf would attack people for no other reason than they were told to ,they need to be in jail or under it no retirement, no nothing but jail
In my little mountain town here in Northwestern Arizona we have lots of gun stores and lots of FFLs. One family business was harassed out of business by industry reps from ATF because ATF thought they were selling guns to too many people with Hispanic surnames. One might expect a large number of Hispanic surnames to emerge from a community where there is a large hispanic community. This is Arizona, after all. I am wondering what sort of restorative justice will be available to people who have been deprived of the right to make a lawful and productive living by… Read more »