By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) – Donald Trump Jr. helped take an online retailer known as the “Amazon of Guns” public last year. Now GrabAGun, where the US president’s son is a shareholder and board member, could reap a windfall from Trump’s proposed rule change at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would make it easier for guns to be shipped directly to people’s homes.
If finalized, the rule would be one of the most significant changes to U.S. gun policy in two decades, potentially leading to a massive increase in online gun sales, according to ten industry officials, store owners and gun control advocates interviewed by Reuters.
The proposal would allow licensed dealers to ship firearms directly to state residents who undergo online identity verification and background checks and a seven-day waiting period after notifying local law enforcement. Currently, online buyers must purchase firearms from brick-and-mortar stores and pass background checks in person unless they have a permit.
Some gun shop owners, industry officials and gun control advocates argue that direct shipping of firearms poses significant public safety and security risks and threatens the existence of small brick-and-mortar gun shops.
The change could benefit Trump Jr., whose more than 300,000 shares in GrabAGun are worth more than $700,000, up from $5 million last year.
Trump Jr.’s spokesman, Andrew Surabian, said in a statement that the president’s son had no role in the ATF bid.
“Don is a lifelong businessman and vocal advocate for our Second Amendment rights,” he said. “He does not engage with the Federal Government as part of his role with any company in which he invests or advises and has zero involvement in this particular decision.”
GrabAGun CEO Marc Nemati told Reuters that neither he nor Trump Jr. knew the offer was coming. The company is still analyzing the rule change’s potential impact on its $100 million in revenue, he said in an interview.
But the CEO was optimistic in a May news release: “We believe GrabAGun is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this potential opportunity.”
A GROWING MARKET FOR FIREARMS HOME DELIVERY
ATF predicts that half of all gun buyers (about 3.3 million people annually) will eventually use home delivery. Some industry leaders told Reuters they expected the actual figures to be much higher due to the ease of online shopping. Industry experts say online ordering for in-store pickup now represents a smaller but still significant share of U.S. gun sales.
ATF general counsel Robert Leider said in an interview that he oversaw a team effort at the agency to create the proposed rule. He said he aimed to bring the arms industry into line with the rest of the modern economy. The agency estimates this change will save consumers $103.7 million annually in travel and transaction time.
Leider said he was unaware of Trump Jr.’s connection to GrabAGun until asked by Reuters and that the president’s son had no influence on the proposed rule. Leider declined to say whether the White House had any role in the proposal.
The White House said it had no record or knowledge of “any interaction with the President’s son regarding any of these matters.”
The rule is one of 34 deregulatory measures proposed by the ATF this spring in response to a February 2025 presidential executive order to expand gun access.
Marianna Mitchem, senior firearms industry consultant at Everytown for Gun Safety, has worked at the ATF for more than 20 years; about four of them served as industry liaisons. He said the industry has never called for a similar policy in its interactions, and brick-and-mortar gun stores have historically played a significant role in vetting their owners.
“ATF always says the gun store is the first line of defense in gun safety,” said Mitchem, who opposes the proposed rule. “But now they’re turning it around.”
‘PEOPLE BUY EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET’
Founded in 2010, GrabAGun is one of the country’s leading online-first gun retailers, although some competitors with brick-and-mortar retail operations also provide online ordering. GrabAGun will be poised for significant growth under the new ATF rule, but competitors including big box stores and other retailers could also benefit from the regulations, according to industry analysts, former ATF officials and gun shop owners.
Trump Jr. emerged as the face of GrabAGun last year when it went public via a special purpose acquisition company merger that netted the company $119 million. This SPAC was brought by 1789 Capital, in which Trump Jr. is a partner.
Shares of the company, traded under the ticker symbol PEW, fell 85 percent last year. Reuters was unable to identify factors that caused the stock price to decline.
Trump Jr. He argued at the time that online gun sales were safe because the guns were shipped to gun stores for customers to pick up, rather than directly to homes as the new rule allows. He also appeared on television to claim that young people and women who would not otherwise want to visit a gun store would flock to the company’s more accessible website.
“People buy everything online,” Trump Jr. told Fox Business last summer.
GUN STORES WORRY ABOUT SECURITY, LOSS OF BUSINESS
The proposed rule is currently in the public comment period, which will end in early August. The proposal may not be finalized until late 2026 or early 2027 and could still be withdrawn or modified.
Gun control groups, including Everytown, Brady and Giffords, argue that when a legal buyer purchases a firearm on behalf of a person who is prohibited from owning it, millions of firearms shipped to buyers’ homes are ripe for illegal gun smuggling, mail theft and straw purchases.
“Even with the most robust virtual sales and background check process, a gun store selling guns online has no way of knowing whether the purchaser is transferring firearms to others,” Giffords spokeswoman Aneesa McMillan said in a statement. he said.
The change dovetails with a similar proposal by the U.S. Postal Service to lift a century-old ban on sending handguns through the mail.
Justin Anderson, director of online sales for Hyatt Guns, which has a store in North Carolina and is one of the nation’s largest gun retailers, said brick-and-mortar stores serve as the “last line of defense” to ensure dangerous people don’t acquire guns. While Anderson said Hyatt would likely adopt home delivery if the rule were finalized, safety concerns give him pause.
Small store owners said in interviews they were concerned about the safety and financial risks the proposal would pose. Many small rural dealers survive on “transfer fees” charged to complete background checks for online purchases that require in-store delivery, which can run about $30 per gun. Such transactions also increase foot traffic for ammunition and accessories, which increases sales.
Chrystal Santos, who runs operations at the Bow & Barrel Athlete Center in Missouri, submitted a public comment opposing the rule.
He said his staff is trained to detect straw purchases by reading customer behavior; It’s an intuitive process that online verification says can’t be replicated.
“This opens up a can of worms,” Santos said. “Places like GrabAGun and others are causing problems, they are making it difficult for stores like us.”
Leider defended the proposal, arguing that it required a more secure verification system than traditional retail.
“People who are concerned about this being susceptible to straw purchases have an idealized view of what in-store purchasing is,” Leider said, suggesting that some brick-and-mortar stores act as “little more than a paperwork conduit.”
(Reporting by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff)
