U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on July 16 held a virtual press conference criticizing the Trump administration’s decision to roll back dozens of gun-safety regulations enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), saying the move endangers communities and amounts to “a direct surrender to the gun lobby.”
According to a press release from Gillibrand’s office, the administration’s changes weaken safeguards intended to block illegal firearm sales, increase oversight of private weapons transactions and keep guns from people with certain histories of mental illness. Gillibrand said the rollbacks come after a string of deadly mass shootings earlier in July.
The senator’s office provided prosecution and seizure statistics tied to the interstate gun trafficking statute enacted as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022). As of March 31, 2026, that statute has been used to charge 1,065 suspected gun traffickers nationwide, with more than 330 convictions. Law enforcement has seized over 6,000 firearms connected to those prosecutions, including more than 500 seized in New York State.
Gillibrand’s office provided a breakdown of seized items that it says were recovered in these prosecutions:
- 574 AR-15 and AR-style weapons
- 694 machine-gun conversion devices (devices that can convert semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic weapons)
- 251 ghost guns (unserialized homemade firearms)
The senator said she is taking steps to oppose the administration’s rollbacks and to push for stronger protections. The statement was issued by Gillibrand’s Senate office on July 16, 2026.
