By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New: H.R. 221: A Bill to Abolish the Bureau of Alcohol. Tobacco and Firearms. Introduced by Representative Eric Burllison (R-MO); President Trump visits DOJ; Politics: WI critical state Supreme Court election; Trump DOJ: ATF law enforcement agents have been deployed to immigration enforcement at the border; Politics: Wisconsin-April 1-Supreme Court election; Alaska: Red Flag law being considered; Arizona: two pro-Second Amendment bills passed Judiciary Committee; California: AB1333, “no duty to retreat” law withdrawn by the sponsor; Colorado: gun bills on the move; Delaware: HB45, tracks the lawful purchases of gun owners by merchant category code, passed the House Judiciary Committee; Florida: HB759, restoring the rights of young adults (18 to 20 years of age) to exercise theirSecond Amendment rights; HB6025 and its companion bill, SB952, protect Second Amendment rights during a state of emergency, passed their respective committees; Hawaii: House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs recommended SB308 be deferred and passed SB401 with amendments;Iowa: HR262; Kentucky: SB75 has passed the State Senate. Minnesota: HF13, eliminating no duty to retreat bill failed by one vote; New Mexico: SecondCommittee passed SB318 and GOSAFE Act still being considered; New York: S1289 before Senate Codes Committee; Oregon: Judiciary Committee hearing on Monday, March 17 on HB3075 and HB3076; South Dakota: SB100/HB1222 on their way to Governor Larry Rhoden’s desk; Texas: The Senate State Affairs Committee reported SB706 out of committee on March 5, 2025. Last week’s information was incorrect; Washington: HB1163 passed the House. The House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary has scheduled a public hearing on Senate Bill 5098, a gun-free zone expansion bill, for 10:30 AM on March 18; Vermont: all gun control bills are dead for this session.
Congress
H.R. 221: A Bill to Abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has been Introduced by Representative Eric Burllison (R-MO).Key Provisions:
- Abolition of the ATF: The bill seeks to terminate the ATF as an agency. It does not propose reforming or downsizing it but calls for its outright dissolution.
- Transfer of Duties:
- Firearms and explosives enforcement would shift to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
- Alcohol and tobacco tax-related functions would move to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) within the Department of the Treasury.
- Repeal of ATF Authority: All statutory powers and regulations currently enforced by the ATF, such as those governing federal firearms licenses (FFLs), background checks, and specific gun regulations (e.g., pistol brace rules), would either lapse or be reassigned, potentially leaving a gap unless explicitly addressed by new legislation or agency action.
- Timeline: The bill mandates that the abolition and transfer process begin immediately upon enactment and be completed within 180 days.
Trump Administration
Department of Justice
On March 14, President Trump visited the Department of Justice and gave a speech lasting more than an hour, which had been billed as a “law and order” address. Second Amendment supporters can read that the DOJ is shifting its priorities to violent criminals. During a Fox Business interview on March 14, Attorney General Pam Bondi focused on violent crime, securing the border, and prosecuting serious offenders. It has also become evident during the first 50 days of the Trump Administration that ATF law enforcement agents have been redeployed from harassing gun owners and FFL licensees to immigration enforcement at the border.
Politics
Wisconsin: On April 1, 2025, there will be a critical state-wide election for a seat in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. On the Grassroots Update of Feb. 17, we wrote the following:“The Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin is holding an election to determine the balance of power on Wisconsin’s highest court. Currently, the 7-member court comprises 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans. The Republican, Brad Schimel, was Wisconsin Attorney General from 2015 to 2019. Before he was elected Attorney General, he served four consecutive terms as Waukesha County District Attorney. Since 2019, he has served as a Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge. The NRA PVF has endorsed his election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court with the following endorsement:
“As Attorney General of Wisconsin, Mr. Schimel received an “A+” rating, the highest grade possible, for his unwavering defense of the individual right to keep and bear arms.”
Attorney Mark W. Smith of “The Four Boxes Diner” channel on Youtube.com has a compelling video. Send the URL to all your Wisconsin friends and urge them to vote.
All 50 state legislatures are in session in 2025
Additional states convening in March: Florida, Louisiana, and Maryland.
Utah and Wyoming have adjourned
Alaska: HR89, a bill to implement “Red Flag” laws, had a public hearing scheduled for March 13. However, the state legislative site does not provide information on the hearing.
Arizona: Two pro-Second Amendment bills, SB1014 and SB1020, were passed by their Senate Judiciary Committee on March 12. SB1014 removes suppressors from Arizona”s prohibited weapons category, and SB1020 allows Right-to-Carry Permittees to carry on college campuses.
Arkansas: HB1509, a poorly drafted bill attempting to prohibit payment processors from using firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components, is on its way to the House floor. A better-written bill, HB1443, before the House Insurance and Commerce Committee is preferable. Hopefully, this problem will be worked out in the House.
California: AB1333 was withdrawn by its sponsor, Assemblymember Zbur, but it had been supported by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. The bill targets the state’s “no duty to retreat” self-defense law, aiming to repeal it and require victims to attempt retreat before defending themselves. Many people, including law enforcement, opposed the bill that would weaken a fundamental right, leaving victims vulnerable and doing little to address actual crime rates.
Colorado: SB25-003 was originally a sweeping semi-automatic firearm ban, has now morphed into a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID)-like “permit-to-purchase” scheme, and a hearing was held before the House Judiciary Committee on March 11. After being yanked from earlier schedules due to fierce pushback from gun owners, the bill now mandates training—4 hours for concealed carry or hunter safety holders, 12 hours for others—plus sheriff vetting and a firearms safety course eligibility card, all to buy common semi-autos like AR-15s or handguns with detachable magazines. It passed the Finance Committee on a 7-6 vote. It now goes to the Appropriations Committee. HB25-1236, the Gun Show suppression bill, passed the House by two votes.
Delaware: HB45, which tracks gun owners’ lawful purchases by merchant category code, passed the House Judiciary Committee on March 19.
Florida: During the past week, both Criminal Justice Committees passed pro-Second Amendment bills. HB759, restoring the rights of young adults (18 to 20 years of age) to exercise theirSecond Amendment rights, and HB6025 and its companion bill, SB952, protect Second Amendment rights during a state of emergency. The NRA on x published a video of Governor DeSantis talking about “young adults” being denied their rights when HB759 was being heard. Here is the transcript of what he said: “I think the legislature, before I became governor, went overboard on some of the things. And I think it did violate people’s due process rights. I think it eliminated rights for young adults. I mean, you have some 20-year-old marine be out there carrying a firearm in Fallujah, back where I served back in the day. And then they come here and can’t purchase a rifle to go hunting or something like that. It’s not consistent with due process. And I would note, when we did constitutional carry, people were saying, my gosh, this is like, and they were trying to create some narrative that this would be problematic. And yet our crime rate’s at a 50-year low. It is just the reality is that law-abiding gun owners are part of the solution. They’re not part of the problem. And a criminal doesn’t care about any of these restrictions about where you can carry or if you can carry on. They’re going to commit a crime. They’re going to commit a crime. And it’s been born out. And other states have done similar things and seen similar results. The states that have the most stringent infringements on the Second Amendment. Many of them have severe problems, like Chicago and some other places. So I’ve always been, this is not anything new for me.”
Hawaii: Two bills were heard before theHouse Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs (JHA). The committee recommends deferring measure SB308, which bans .60-caliber firearms. SB401, which bans them, was passed with amendments.
Iowa: HSB262 changes the eligibility age for a Right-to-Carry Permit from 21 to 18, passed the House Judiciary Committee on March 6, 2025, by a 17-4 margin.
Kentucky: SB75, removing discriminations against 18-20-year-old law-abiding adults from carrying firearms for self-defense, has passed the State Senate.
Minnesota: On March 6, The Minnesota House voted 66-66 on HF13,which would haveeliminated the current duty to retreat law, thus killing this critical legislation. According to @mnguncaucus on X.com:
“In Minnesota, you can use force, even deadly force, to defend yourself, provided you first try to escape your attacker and your counterforce is commensurate with your danger.
“And that “duty to retreat” legal standard will remain the case because the House could not garner enough votes Thursday to pass HF13, which would have allowed a person to use reasonable force in self-defense “regardless of whether a reasonable possibility of retreat to avoid the danger exists.”
“This is not a ‘shoot first’ bill that you’re going to hear tonight,” said the bill sponsor Rep. Matt Bliss (R-Pennington). Nor, he said, would it unleash unlawfulness whereby people are shooting each other over disputed parking spaces.
“Needing 68 House votes for passage, the bill could only garner party-line results with 67 affirmative votes but 65 negative votes. It was then reconsidered and tabled in a pair of procedural moves.”
New Mexico: On March 8, the Senate Tax, Business & Transportation committee heard and recommended a Do Pass on SB318, legislation to massively expand penalties and legal liabilities for the firearm industry. This legislation will promote frivolous lawsuits and crippling legal fees to highly regulated firearms businesses by extending the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act and allowing private lawsuits with the New Mexico Attorney General acting as a party to the lawsuit as the bill gives the AG the power to pursue civil penalties. On March 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported the bill with a Do Pass recommendation. A Senate floor amendment was added, which increases penalties. This year’s GOSAFE Act, SB279, is ananti-Second Amendment bill introduced in the Senate. Our website provides a comprehensive description of the original bill. However, as amended, the substitute bill, SubSB279, is the committee substitute bill, which includes a grandfather clause that bans future acquisition of these firearms, leaving current owners with a 10-month window to certify possession. Both bills mention banning “large capacity magazines,” but SubSB279 explicitly bans magazines holding more than 10 rounds, with no new sales or manufacture allowed after Jan. 1, 2026. Current owners must serialize existing high-capacity magazines. Additionally, SubSB279 Permits possession of existing gas-operated semiautomatics if owners certify them within 10 months of enactment, and non-compliance after January 1, 2026, becomes a fourth-degree felony crime.
New York: The anti-Second Amendment legislature is attempting to add a New York Office of Gun Violence, S1289. A hearing will be held today in the Senate Codes Committee.
Oregon: Due to the Oregon Court of Appeals’ reversal of the lower court opinion on Ballot Measure 114, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing today, Monday, March 17, on two bills: HB3075, which changes Ballot Measure 114, increasing the cost of application fees and extending waiting periods, and HB3076, a gun dealer license bill from the state of Oregon.
South Dakota: SB100 and HB1222 are on their way to Governor Larry Rhoden’s desk. SB100 and HB1222 allow enhanced Right-to-Carry Permittees to carry on college campuses. HB1218, repealing the gun-free zone, passed the Senate.
Texas: The Senate State Affairs Committee held a hearing on SB706, recognizing out-of-state Right-to-Carry Permits. The bill was reported out of committee on March 5, 2025. Last week’s information was incorrect.
Utah: The Utah legislature has adjourned.
Washington: HB1163, establishing a firearm permit prior to purchase, passed the House. The House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary has scheduled a public hearing on Senate Bill 5098, a gun-free zone expansion bill, for 10:30 AM on March 18.
Vermont: As of March 14, any bills that fail to advance out of the chamber of origin are considered “dead” for the session. Thus, all gun control bills are dead for this session.
Wyoming: The Wyoming legislature has adjourned.
