In a bold move that gun owners across the nation will say has been long overdue, President Trump’s FY2026 budget proposal delivers a massive $468 million cut to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), signaling a dramatic course correction for the agency long accused of overstepping its authority.
The White House did not mince words. “The Budget bolsters the Second Amendment by cutting funding for ATF offices that have criminalized law-abiding gun ownership through regulatory fiat,” the budget document states.
For years, gun rights advocates have warned about the ATF’s regulatory mission creep—transforming unelected bureaucrats into de facto lawmakers. This budget takes direct aim at that abuse.
Under the Biden administration, the ATF aggressively expanded enforcement and interpretation of gun laws:
- Attempting to implement near-universal background checks by redefining who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms.
- Criminalizing non-registration of pistol braces, disproportionately affecting disabled veterans who rely on them for stability.
- Imposing draconian restrictions on homemade firearms and 80% receivers—essentially banning a practice that has been legal since the founding of the Republic.
- Weaponizing revocations of Federal Firearms Licenses (FFLs), putting thousands of small gun shops and family-run businesses at risk.
Rather than empowering more anti-gun red tape, the Trump budget proposes a return to the ATF’s core law enforcement mission: stopping illegal firearms traffickers and assisting local law enforcement in tracing crime guns—particularly those used by gangs like MS-13. In short, it means going after the criminals, not the Constitution.
This move marks a rare and refreshing acknowledgment from the federal government: that gun owners are not the problem.
By shifting focus away from harassing hobbyists, veterans, and small businesses, and toward genuine public safety threats, the administration draws a hard line in defense of the Second Amendment—and the millions of law-abiding Americans who cherish it.
For the first time in years, the ATF may finally be told what gun owners have been saying all along: your job is to fight crime, not our rights.
President Trump’s FY2026 Budget Proposal – Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request
ATF to Review Definition of “Engaged in the Business” for FFLs
ATF ‘Zero-Tolerance’ Report Shows Imperative of President Trump’s Decision to Ditch Policy
Any agency that goes against the constitution should get zero funding with the atf at the top of the list. Beyond that, the atf should be prosecuted for their many crimes and until that happens there is no reason to think of them as anything but another terrorist group much like isis, hamas, hezbola etc.
Arm up and carry on
I will take this as good. It does make me wonder who is behind it though. The report of Trump saying he does not know whether Citizens are entitled to Due Process is disturbing. I don’t think this sort of Constitutional stuff is his first nature. He does not have the time to do all of this, so is it Vance? I doubt that it is Bondi. Driscoll is supposedly acting now. It may be that whoever it is pushed hard but this is as far as they could get.
HLB
This is all nice Fluff,
But the ONLY Real Solution is:
“Enemas Til Clear” at the ATF
The proposal is a far cry from disbanding many thought was going to happen. It definitely shows that isn’t even on the horizon.
Save American lives, get them GONE!
25%~ is a good haircut but I’d like to see a Parris Island haircut for this outfit.