The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) unveiled a new proposed rule that would simplify the process of acquiring National Firearms Act (NFA) firearms.
The ATF filed a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register today. The rule is titled “Fingerprint and Photograph Requirements for Firearms Applications” [Docket No. ATF-2026-0397; ATF 2025R-14P]. It modifies 27 CFR parts 478 and 479 to reduce burdens on the American gun-owning population by removing several key requirements for filing ATF Forms 4 and 1.
Currently, when a gun owner submits an NFA form to the ATF, they must submit two fingerprint cards and a 2” x 2” photo, similar to a passport photo. The proposed rule will change that. NFA applicants no longer need to provide two separate fingerprint cards. This reduces the number to a single card. Although, since most applicants use electronic EFT fingerprints, it will not be a noticeable change for most. The use of digital fingerprints for electronic submission will be codified. Codifying the acceptance of digital fingerprints will make it harder for future ATF regimes to eliminate the acceptance of EFT files, requiring gun owners to mail in paper cards.
What Changes for NFA Trusts
The real change in fingerprinting will apply to NFA trust applicants. The proposed rule removes the fingerprinting requirement entirely, meaning if someone uses a trust, they will not be required to submit fingerprints. This change is limited to customers with NFA trusts because of federal statutes. The ATF claims that the FBI only requests fingerprints for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) about 1% of the time.
Individuals and trust holders will no longer need to submit a passport photo. They will be able to prove their identity with a scan or photo of a government-issued ID. This change will eliminate the burden on gun owners to have to seek out a place to get their pictures taken. The ATF can request photos and fingerprints only in a few circumstances to complete the FBI background check.
The ATF believes the change will not affect public safety and will help it achieve its goal of being less burdensome to the American public regarding the right to keep and bear arms. This is the latest rule to be introduced by the ATF in its attempt to restructure its regulatory powers to be less adversarial toward the American gun owner. After years of a Joe Biden ATF going after Americans for just wanting to exercise their God-given right, the changes have drawn a rare nod of approval from the gun community.
The rule is set to be published on Monday, July 6, 2026. There will be a 90-day comment period where anti-gun groups are expected to flood the comments with attempts to change the ATF’s mind, but the data is not on its side. This change is long overdue, and more changes are expected in the coming weeks.
Gun Owners Should Comment on the Rule
Gun owners and pro-gun organizations should make their voices heard through the comment process. With this new rule, the injunctions over the Virginia “assault weapons” ban, the Department of Justice suing Virginia over the ban and California over its Glock ban, and the Supreme Court granting certiorari in a couple of “assault weapon” ban cases, it has not been a good week for anti-gun zealots.
ASA Report: Suppressor Demand Explodes After $200 Tax Stamp Drops to $0
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @right2bear, or at www.crumpy.com.
Too little too late. SBR’s, cans and SBS’s as well as machine guns are already owned in excess of SCOTUS’ definition per Caetano of “common use” (200,000). The unconstitutional NFA mandates that only “dangerous AND unusual” arms be subject to the poll tax. Since these arms are in common use, they cannot legally be subject to the NFA, and the NFA has no historical analogs while it most certainly infringes on the 2nd amendment rights of citizens, so it must be ABOLISHED.