By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Trump administration is rolling back Biden-era background check rules and easing ATF enforcement policies, including changes that could make it easier to sell weapons online or through private sales without background checks and make it harder to revoke a gun dealer’s license.
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Valley gun dealer says oversight must evolve
At Ammo AZ in Glendale, owner Veerachart Danger Murphy said his employees work closely with federal authorities to flag illegal sales.
“We work with ATF every day to help prevent straw purchasing,” Murphy said.
Murphy said straw purchases — in which someone buys a gun on behalf of a person who cannot legally pass a background check — are a routine concern at his store.
“We refuse straw purchases almost on a daily basis, and there’s telltale signs that give it away,” he said.
Murphy described gun dealers as a critical layer of enforcement.
“We’re an extra line of defense that we can identify that for the ATF, right?” he said.
On the regulatory rollbacks, Murphy said the changes do not necessarily eliminate oversight.
“I don’t think the oversight goes away. It just has to evolve,” he said, adding that he hopes the ATF develops tools to identify straw purchases under the new framework.
Critics say rollbacks weaken accountability
Val Voll with Moms Demand Action said the proposed changes weaken the oversight mechanisms used to catch illegal gun sales.
“We believe in responsible gun ownership. This is not a Second Amendment issue,” Voll said.
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She said the rollbacks favor the gun industry over public safety.
“The rules being proposed and the rollbacks, they are just chipping away at the ATF’s ability to hold FFLs or gun dealers accountable,” Voll said.
Voll said her organization wants to work alongside law-abiding gun dealers.
“We want to lock arms with gun dealers that follow the law and follow the regulation, and we want them to remain that first line of defense and that critical part of upholding gun safety and preventing firearms from being illegally purchased or straw purchased or getting into the hands of the wrong person,” she said.
Recent Arizona federal prosecutions
Arizona has seen several recent federal prosecutions for the types of crimes ATF investigates.
A Phoenix gun owner pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting straw purchasing. Nine people were charged in a separate straw purchasing conspiracy. A gun store owner was also indicted for allegedly providing weapons to Mexican cartels.
Straw purchasing and lying on a background check form remain federal crimes. The question raised by critics is whether fewer regulations and reduced ATF oversight could make those crimes harder to detect.
The Trump administration has said the changes remove outdated regulations, not criminal penalties. The exact impact of the proposals and their final forms have not yet been determined.
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