In The News: May 2025

A Detailed Look at the Pistollo 77 - The Strangest Looking PCC Ever, The Firearms Blog, May 14, 2025. The Pistollo 77° is probably one of the weirdest firearms I’ve ever seen. As the designer ran me through the details, I had a hard time realizing what I was looking at. It’s almost as if one lets Artificial Intelligence design a gun, and we all have a laugh that it’s never going to work. But the Pistollо is real, it works and the first production units are about to be released.

Permit-to-Purchase Gun Bill Signed Into Law by Gov. Ferguson (WA), The Center Square, May 20, 2025. Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday signed into law a controversial bill requiring Washingtonians to apply for a permit – and pay for it – before purchasing a firearm. Under House Bill 1163, which goes into effect in May 2027, any state resident wishing to purchase a gun must first apply for a permit, then pay a fee, and show documentation of completing a safety training program – including live-fire shooting – within five years.

BFA Signs on to Open Letter to Reform the National Firearms Act, Buckeye Firearms, May 20, 2025. Buckeye Firearms Association has joined a long list of organizations nationwide in signing an open letter to two U.S. House of Representatives committees, insisting that Congress eliminate unjust restrictions imposed by the National Firearms Act of 1934.

Struggling Firearms Company Closes Down Business, No Bankruptcy, The Street, May 19, 2025. The U.S. firearms industry has faced some financial distress in 2025 as gun manufacturers and ammo producers filed for bankruptcy protection. Some gun makers have also shut down operations for economic issues without filing for bankruptcy.

US Justice Department Takes Next Steps to Merge ATF and DEA, Sources Say, Reuters, May 16, 2025. The U.S. Justice Department plans to press ahead with a merger of its two agencies that investigate drug and firearms offenses, though the effort would still need approval from Congress, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

What Just Happened: The Trump Administration Repealed Zero Tolerance Policy for Rogue Gun Dealers, Just Security, April 15, 2025. On Apr. 7, the Trump Administration announced its most significant action on guns to date: the termination of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF’s) policy of zero tolerance for gun dealers that willfully violate the law. This step is the first of many the Trump Administration will likely take to dismantle the Biden Administration’s efforts to curtail the flow of firearms reaching the hands of criminals. The action threatens public safety in the United States, as well as America’s diplomatic relationship with Mexico.