The Trump administration hasn't gone nearly as far as some Second Amendment activists would like, at least when it comes to dismantling the federal gun control regime. The administration appears to have backed off its attempt at merging ATF and the DEA, which was roundly criticized on both sides of the gun control debate, and there are no plans to shutter the agency altogether.
The DOJ, meanwhile, continues to defend federal prohibitions on gun possession for "unlawful" users of drugs and those convicted of crimes punishable by more than a year in prison, even when those offenses are non-violent. According to a new report by Reuters, though, the DOJ is bringing fewer of these kinds of cases to federal court.
The federal government has retreated from gun enforcement in Baltimore and elsewhere this year as more of its investigators turn their attention to President Donald Trump’s new priority for law enforcement: hunting immigrants in the U.S. illegally to deport, Reuters found after reviewing millions of court records and interviewing five former federal officials who participated in the effort.
Last year, federal prosecutors in Maryland charged 131 people with violating the two most commonly enforced federal gun laws. So far this year, they have brought 89 such cases, about 32% fewer, and the lowest number in at least 25 years, according to Reuters' analysis of court dockets. The shift is part of a broader federal slowdown in the state, where the number of federal prosecutions unrelated to immigration has fallen nearly 10% in 2025, the dockets show.
The Justice Department’s retreat from gun enforcement in Baltimore is one facet of an abrupt shift in federal law enforcement this year that has sidelined some traditional crime-fighting efforts such as those targeting money-laundering, tax offenses and drugs to pursue deportations instead, Reuters found after reviewing court records nationwide.
I'm sure it is the case that the Trump administration is placing a higher priority on pursuing deportations than what we saw when Sleepy Joe was nominally in charge. But the Reuters report ignores the simplest explanation for the declining number of prosecutions unrelated to immigration, or at least those involving violations of federal gun laws: crime itself is declining.
Baltimore's homicide rate was down by 22% as of November, and non-fatal shootings had declined by 19% compared to the same time period in 2024. With fewer violent crimes taking place, there are fewer opportunities for federal prosecutors to pursue criminal charges.
Reuters, though, notes that the decline in federal prosecutions comes at a time when the Trump administration has diverted a significant number of ATF field agents to help enforce immigration law.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would not say how many of its agents in Maryland have been shifted to immigration work. But nationwide, the administration has enlisted thousands of federal agents normally focused on other types of enforcement to help, Reuters reported this year after interviewing 20 current and former officials. Records obtained by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, show nearly 1,200 ATF agents spent at least some of their time devoted to immigration instead of gun enforcement this year, about half of its workforce.
“ATF, in essence, is not investigating gun crimes,” a former official who worked on the immigration deployments in another state said.
Even small diversions can have an outsized impact when it comes to gun cases because the ATF is a comparatively small piece of federal law enforcement. “If you have two or three agents who have to go out with ICE, that’s a lot,” another former official said.
The diversion came as the ATF is losing agents. Personnel records reviewed by Reuters show 219 criminal investigators left the agency between January and October, almost 40% more than departed in the previous four years. Reuters was unable to determine what the net loss of agents was during this time. ATF declined to answer a question about its staffing levels.
A quick perusal of the ATF's latest press releases shows there's still plenty of firearms-related investigations taking place, even if some ATF field personnel have been redirected at times to assist in immigration enforcement. Reuters also doesn't say what role, exactly, these ATF agents play when they go out with ICE. Are they looking for any violations of federal gun laws, or are they there simply to aid and support ICE agents.
Again, regardless of the circumstances, it doesn't appear that the Trump administration's prioritizing immigration enforcement has had any negative public safety impacts. Violent crime is down significantly in most U.S. cities, to the point that 2025 may end up with the lowest recorded homicide rate since the FBI started keeping track back in 1960.
That's the biggest story of the year in terms of public safety, and Reuters barely acknowledges it in its report on the decline in federal gun cases. It's interesting that the administration is bringing fewer gun cases to federal court, but that fact doesn't exist in a vacuum, and in the context of violent crime it seems to be a non-issue altogether.
Editor's Note: Christmas is coming a little early here at Bearing Arms!
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