Amid Trump Administration Rollback of Gun Industry Oversight, Brady Releases Updated Information, Analysis on the Suppliers of America’s Gun Violence Epidemic

The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to ATF and potential end to the Demand Letter 2 program will substantially decrease inspections of rogue gun dealers and hinder Brady’s ability to keep the public informed at GunStoreTransparency.org, the nation’s largest public searchable database of gun dealer inspection records

Washington, D.C., June 26, 2025 — Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization, has released new data secured from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that identifies firearm dealers included in the 2024 Demand Letter 2 (DL2) program — a program that identifies many dealers that sell large numbers of guns quickly diverted to crimes. Although no formal announcement has been made, the gun lobby has reported the Trump administration is planning on ending the ATF’s Demand Letter 2 program entirely.

In an effort to keep the American public informed of the role of rogue gun dealers in America’s gun violence crisis, Brady has updated GunStoreTransparency.org to include DL2 distinctions. This update makes it easy to identify gun stores that are known to have both been cited for violating the law and linked to guns used in crimes. Brady also released an updated analysis today of the dealers in this program, which found dealers that sell the most crime guns continue to do so: Two-thirds of dealers who received DL2 letters in 2024 had also received letters in 2022 and 2023. Further, our analysis found that as states weaken laws on gun sales, the number of DL2 dealers in the state increases.

Brady utilized Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to secure data on ATF’s DL2 program. All dealers in this program have sold at least 25 guns that were recovered in crime within the last year and that were also purchased within the last three years — behaviors considered by the ATF to be key indicators of gun trafficking. Dealers under this program are then subject to additional reporting requirements from ATF to assist the Bureau in more efficiently tracing recovered guns. The information collected under the DL2 program has led to nearly 200,000 investigative leads for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. 

Brady President Kris Brown said:

As the Trump administration works to quietly weaken our nation’s gun safety policies — including slashing ATF inspection staff by two-thirds and reducing gun dealer oversight — we are fighting back. Not only are we continuing to expose hidden records on lawbreaking gun stores, but we are also releasing the most comprehensive data yet to pull back the curtain on the gun industry’s role in fueling gun violence.

For the longest time, the gun industry has tried to keep America in the dark, denying the general public information on which gun dealers are funneling firearms into their communities. The Trump administration also understands the power of data — that’s exactly why they have worked so diligently to erase it. Through the Gun Store Transparency Project, we are saying ‘enough is enough’ and refusing to let the gun lobby pull the shade over our eyes.  

I urge journalists, policymakers, researchers, and community members alike to visit GunStoreTransparency.org, enter a zip code, and equip themselves with the facts so that we can end our nation’s gun violence epidemic. 

Nearly 200 dealers in the ATF DL2 program have federal inspection violations available through Brady’s Gun Store Transparency Project. The Gun Store Transparency Project (GunStoreTransparency.org) began in 2021 with never-before-released federal records that identify gun stores cited for violating the law, and now includes more than 4,000 reports dating back to 2015. This is the most comprehensive and detailed public database of ATF gun store inspection reports, which will continue to grow as Brady obtains new reports from ATF.