ATF stripped licenses from fewer gun shops in 2025

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stripped the licenses of dramatically fewer gun stores last year under the direction of President Donald Trump and a new posture for the agency.

Data released to USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act shows the ATF revoked 56 licenses in 2025, down from 183 the previous year, which was the highest in two decades.

Newly confirmed ATF Director Robert Cekada is on Capitol Hill on May 12 and May 14 to discuss the agency’s new direction. Recently, Cekada announced the rollout of 34 proposed rules for the agency that are widely viewed as more favorable to the firearms industry.

In February 2025, the ATF, under Trump Administration orders, announced the end of President Joe Biden’s “Zero Tolerance” policy aimed at cracking down on gun dealers who violate federal rules. In his confirmation process, Cekada said the end of the policy will “emphasize firearm traceability and public safety and deemphasize immaterial paperwork errors.”

Revocations by year:

Industry leaders like the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Larry Keane applauded the softer approach to gun dealers. He noted the “blistering” pace of revocations under Biden during “a politicization of the ATF to attack the firearm industry.”

Keane decried a Biden-era practice of listing revoked licenses on the ATF's website in what he called a “politically-driven name and shame smear campaign." Trump's ATF ended the practice.

In a separate ATF policy, the agency released a list of sellers targeted for selling the most guns used in crimes each year. USA TODAY obtained and published that list in 2024. Again, the policy was suspended last year when Trump installed new ATF leadership.

Democratic senators pressed Cekada during his confirmation process about why the program was suspended.

Cekada responded that the pause was triggered “by efforts of advocacy groups to mischaracterize [the program]."

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins is hosting a hearing on May 14 to question Cekada about naming gun shops and abiding by rules that shield most firearm trace data from the public.

Before its suspension, the ATF told gun shops that the enhanced program aimed at crime guns was working. In a letter reviewed by USA TODAY, firearms retailers targeted in the program were told that since its inception in 2000, the agency’s tracing center had successfully traced 269,000 firearms from the records.

Beth Chatelain, a former ATF attorney who now advises gun shops at the firm Zeroed In Legal Solutions, said the changes track political tides, but won’t necessarily last.

“You might not be feeling threatened, or that they’re not going to yank your license for breathing the wrong way, the problem is when the seesaw swings again,” Chatelain said. “The actions you’re taking today are certainly part of your record and all it takes is another change in focus or policy.”

Revoked shops close, some reopen

The list of 56 sellers whose licenses were revoked includes a number of high-profile cases that played out in court or grabbed headlines in recent years.

Grips by Larry, an Arizona shop, lost its license in 2025. That shop, owned by Laurence Gray, closed after Gray was indicted alongside a Tucson man in 2025 with firearms trafficking.

In March 2026, a federal grand jury tacked on additional, more serious charges alleging the shop was providing material support to two Mexican cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations.

A Leesburg, Ohio, shop had to close last year after the ATF revoked its license. Crosshairs Armament was operated by John Duncan and his wife, but ran afoul of ATF rules in what Duncan called “a humiliating experience for us.”

The shop has now reopened under a new name, Rezadoo Firearms, in the same location.

“We made a mistake based on lack of knowledge,” Duncan said. “It seems like under the Biden administration, the ATF was weaponized and they enjoyed humiliating us for clerical errors.”

Duncan said since reopening the store under Trump, business has ticked down. He said he believes that's because expensive gas prices are holding back customers from buying firearms.

Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at [email protected] or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.