Federal gun regulators have backed off strict legacy policies that had cut off the supply of some types of non-lethal training ammunition, as well as "dual-use" barrels. 

On June 23, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives announced it had officially rolled back restrictions on the importation of non-lethal marking rounds. 

The three-page industry letter, signed by ATF Deputy Director Robert Cekada, not only scrapped the arbitrary Biden-era ban but went so far as to note that: 

As a fully assembled training round does not constitute "ammunition" under the permanent importation provisions of the AECA, importers do not need to complete an ATF Form 6 under 27 CFR part 478 to bring training rounds into the United States.

This is important because the two most common non-lethal training rounds on the market, the FX Simunition, and the Ultimate Training Munitions Man-Marker series, are manufactured in Canada and the United Kingdom, respectively. Blocking their import from the consumer market by the Biden Administration in October 2023, therefore, cut off reliable force-on-force training tools. 
 

Dual-use barrels

At the same time, ATF Deputy Director Robert Cekada issued a new five-page policy on its interpretation of the legality behind importing "dual-use" barrels. This goes back to November 2005, when the George W. Bush-era ATF announced it would deny permits to import barrels, such as those on disassembled military firearms, as not having a sporting purpose. This meant that parts kits, such as those on FN FALs, G3s, AKs, and the like, had to either scrap or torch the barrels. 

The agency last week signaled it would take a more nuanced look at these permits and allow those long-forbidden barrels to head to the States so long as they can have “legitimate sporting use." This is "regardless of whether that barrel had been previously configured on non-sporting, military surplus, or NFA firearms."

So, pour one out over the tens of thousands of old milsurp barrels that were recycled in the past 20 years, and get ready to see some interesting deals from places that specialize in parts kits and overseas imports. 

Both the new policy on non-lethal training rounds and dual-use barrels come as part of a push by the ATF to bring about a "new era of reform."