RRLEF Act of 2025
The Responsible Retirement of Law Enforcement Firearms (RRLEF) Act of 2025 aims to reduce gun trafficking by restricting law enforcement agencies from doing business with firearms dealers that frequently sell guns later used in crimes. The bill amends the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to require that agencies receiving federal grants avoid purchasing from or selling to "covered licensed dealers"—those who have sold 25 or more firearms in at least two of the past three years that were later recovered in crimes within three years of sale. The legislation also removes longstanding restrictions on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from publicly disclosing gun trace data, requiring the ATF to notify law enforcement when their transferred firearms are used in crimes and to publish an annual list of problematic dealers.
Key Points
- 1Law enforcement agencies receiving Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant funds must certify they will not conduct firearm transactions with dealers on the ATF's published list of "covered licensed dealers"
- 2A "covered licensed dealer" is defined as one that sold 25+ firearms in at least two of the past three years that had a "short time-to-crime" (recovered within three years of sale in connection with criminal activity)
- 3The ATF must notify state and local law enforcement agencies when firearms they previously transferred are used or suspected of being used in crimes
- 4The ATF must publish an annual public list of covered licensed dealers on its website within 120 days of enactment
- 5The bill repeals appropriations riders from 2003-2012 that prohibited the ATF from publicly disclosing firearms trace database information