The AIM Act (ATF Improvement and Modernization Act of 2025) would repeal a long list of appropriations riders — commonly called the Tiahrt Amendments — that have restricted how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) collects, keeps, shares, and acts on firearms records. It would end the rule requiring that FBI instant-background-check (NICS) records be destroyed within 24 hours, lift the ban on the Justice Department consolidating dealer sales records into a central system, and let ATF search out-of-business dealers' computerized records by a person's name. The bill would also free firearms trace data for public release and analysis, and would let the government process Freedom of Information Act requests about firearm traces, arson, and explosives incidents. Federal firearms licensees (gun dealers) would face more frequent compliance inspections and an easier path to denial or revocation, because the standard would drop from a "willful" violation to a "knowing" one. Dealers challenging a license action would lose the right to a fresh "de novo" court review and could no longer introduce evidence outside the original administrative record. Sponsored by Senator Van Hollen, the measure is framed as removing obstacles to enforcing existing gun laws and would mainly affect gun dealers, gun buyers, and ATF.
Civil Liberties
- NICS background-check record retention — 24-hour destruction requirement eliminated
- Centralized firearms-records systems — Ban on Justice Department consolidation of dealer records removed
- Name-based searches of out-of-business dealers' records — Ban on retrieval by personal identifier removed
- De novo court review of license actions — Removed for federal firearms licensees
- New-evidence submission on license appeals — Licensees limited to the existing record
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- ATF authority to revoke licenses — Violation standard lowered from willful to knowing
- ATF authority to deny license applications — Violation standard lowered from willful to knowing
- ATF inspection frequency for licensees — Annual limit on record-keeping inspections removed
Transparency & Accountability
- FOIA processing of arson, explosives, and firearm-trace requests — Prohibition removed
- Firearms trace-data disclosure — Tiahrt restrictions on public release removed
- Public analysis of trace data — Ban on drawing broad crime conclusions repealed
Congressional Summary
ATF Improvement and Modernization Act of 2025 or the AIM ActThis bill removes limitations on the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to conduct activities related to the administration of federal firearms laws.Specifically, the bill removes provisions thatlimit the use of firearms tracing data;prohibit consolidating or centralizing records maintained by federal firearm licensees, or FFLs (e.g., gun dealers);prohibit imposing a requirement that gun dealers conduct a physical inventory;require background check records to be destroyed within 24 hours;limit the disclosure of data under the Freedom of Information Act;prohibit the ATF from altering the definition of or denying certain import applications for a curio or relic firearm;prohibit the denial of a federal firearms license due to lack of business activity;prohibit the electronic retrieval of information gathered from firearm transaction records of FFLs that go out of business;prohibit the ATF from denying an application to import certain shotguns; andlimit the number of annual compliance inspections.Additionally, the billlowers the standard for denying or revoking a federal firearms license due to violations of federal firearms laws by requiring only a knowing violation rather than a willful violation, andremoves the requirement that an appeal of a denial or revocation of a federal firearms license shall be subject to the de novo standard of judicial review (i.e., without deference to the agency determination).
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-11-19
- Date Added
- 2026-07-02
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.