Trump Administration Restores Licenses to Gun Dealers Previously Penalized Under Biden
A Convicted Felon’s Raffle Scheme Reveals Deeper Issues
Qwenews.com – Facebook users encountered eye-catching raffle advertisements offering PlayStations, NBA tickets, and firearms as prizes. The organizer of these contests, however, lacked proper licensing to sell weapons—and was actually a convicted felon. When ATF investigators questioned him about the situation, he claimed the proprietor of a local gun shop was aware of his criminal history yet continued working with him. That shop owner subsequently denied making such a claim.
ATF agents examined financial records belonging to The Outdoorsman’s Attic, located in Sheridan, Colorado. They discovered the proprietor had manipulated documentation to conceal the felon’s involvement in operations. Following these infractions alongside numerous additional concerns, the Biden administration’s ATF revoked the establishment’s license two years prior. Today, with Donald Trump serving as president, the business operates once more.
Broader Pattern of License Restorations
The Colorado shop represents just one example of a larger trend. According to a CNN investigation, approximately twelve establishments that experienced license revocations during the Biden presidency have now received permission to resume firearm sales under Trump. This shift reflects the current administration’s more lenient stance toward gun regulation, notably through the termination of a Biden-era “zero-tolerance” initiative designed to penalize the most problematic dealers.
In at least five separate situations, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice dismissed legal challenges filed by gun retailers contesting their Biden-era license cancellations. The ATF verified that it extended invitations to former dealers to submit new license applications, approving at least twenty-three establishments while declining to name them individually.
Previously Flagged Businesses Return to Market
Several businesses receiving fresh licenses under Trump had previously been identified for significant compliance failures. ATF documentation examined by CNN indicates that two of these establishments received multiple warning letters noting that at least twenty-five weapons they sold appeared at crime scenes within a single year. Those warning letters documented that 175 crime-related firearms had been recovered from these two shops between 2021 and 2024.
Former ATF leadership expressed concern about these restorations. Marianna Mitchem, who directed the inspection division before departing in May 2025, emphasized that establishments failing to conduct background checks or selling to straw buyers contribute disproportionately to violent crime nationwide.
“We were laser focused on inspecting the gun stores that were the source of crime guns,” Mitchem stated. She currently serves as an adviser for Everytown, an organization advocating for gun violence prevention. She highlighted that straw buyers and unlicensed operators represent the primary channels through which traffickers obtain weapons illegally.
“The bottom line is, ATF isn’t focused on firearms trafficking anymore… and it’s very sad, because our citizens, our communities, are going to pay the price for this,” she added.
ATF Defends Its Approach
Robert Leider, the ATF’s chief counsel, pushed back against claims that oversight has diminished. “We are taking corrupt dealers very seriously and we are bringing serious charges when we find them,” he explained to CNN. “We are taking straw buyers very seriously. The difference is that this administration does not see any tension between fighting violent crime and reducing restrictions on law-abiding citizens.”
Leider noted that for retailers regaining licenses previously withdrawn under Biden policies, the agency conducted both legal and factual examinations. “Some of the cases of people who reapplied involve technical violations, but not of the magnitude that gun control advocates have been claiming,” he said.
Dealers Claim Unfair Treatment
The Outdoorsman’s Attic chose not to respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, other retailers that recovered their licenses argued they faced disproportionate scrutiny under the previous administration.
“We were not giving out guns to people that … should not have them or purposely like not running background checks just to get a sale done,” explained Will Boswell, proprietor of The Tactical Edge in Tennessee. His shop lost its license in 2023 and regained it last autumn after submitting a new application under Trump.
“We’ve never done anything like that. We will never do anything like that. But the way that the ATF portrayed that and spoke to us, it made us feel like criminals,” Boswell concluded.
Recent Changes to ATF Operations
Since Trump resumed office last year, the White House has substantially decreased the number of ATF inspectors while simultaneously limiting their power to recommend license revocations for federal gun law violations, CNN previously reported. Additionally, the agency has diminished transparency regarding enforcement activities by eliminating firearms-license inspection reports from public access.
