The Trump administration is advancing a broad rollback of federal firearms regulations, including proposals that would allow Americans to ship handguns through the mail, rescind Biden-era background check requirements, and make it harder for federal regulators to revoke gun dealers' licenses.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said the changes are meant to modernize firearms rules and reduce burdens on law-abiding gun owners without undermining law enforcement.

In late April, the agency announced nearly three dozen final and proposed rules following President Donald Trump's directive to reexamine federal regulations affecting gun owners and the firearms industry.

One key proposal would repeal a 2024 Biden administration rule that expanded the definition of who qualifies as a gun dealer under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The rule was aimed at closing the so-called "gun show loophole," but the Trump administration is seeking to scrap it.

Gun control advocates criticized the White House's move.

"This is, to us, absolutely the gun industry's wish list," Kris Brown, the president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, told Axios.

Brown noted that industry leaders were present when the proposals were announced.

Supporters of the rollback argue Biden-era rules imposed unnecessary restrictions on lawful gun owners and firearms businesses.

A recent investigation by The Trace found prosecutions of people accused of dealing firearms without a license did not significantly increase after the Biden rule took effect.

Other proposals would ease rules for transporting firearms, remove a requirement that licensed dealers provide youth handgun safety notices, and revise standards governing when dealers can lose their federal licenses.

Separately, the U.S. Postal Service is considering allowing individuals to mail handguns under the same rules that apply to lawful shipments of rifles and shotguns.

That proposal follows a Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion concluding the long-standing federal ban on mailing handguns is unconstitutional.

The National Rifle Association's lobbying arm argued the current ban creates "massive and needless headaches for law-abiding gun owners."

Critics say the change could increase risks involving theft, trafficking, and unlawful firearm transfers.

In one proposed rule narrowing who is considered mentally unfit to possess firearms, the ATF noted that the "risk may be minimal, or may be considerably greater (up to and including potential mass casualty events)."

Brown told Axios that the agency knows "it raises the risk of mass shootings."

"They know that violent crime is likely to go up," she added. "They know it's going to hinder law enforcement, and they do it anyway."

Meanwhile, gun rights advocates and industry groups welcomed the proposals.

In a press release, National Sports Shooting Foundation Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane called the rollback "the dawning of a new era."

ATF rejected claims that the changes were designed to satisfy the gun lobby.

"The repeal of the regulation has no effect on the scope of the law and signals that ATF will abide by the laws enacted by Congress," an agency spokesperson told Axios in a statement.

Daniel Webster, a professor at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Gun Violence Solutions, disagreed.

"This is a green light to the segment of the gun industry that profits from crime and gun violence," he said.

Brown's prediction was equally grim.

"We think it is going to be the worst delivery of regression in the history of the country in terms of gun violence prevention," she said.