Lee Harvey Oswald bought the rifle that killed President Kennedy through a mail-order ad in American Rifleman magazine. That purchase — anonymous, interstate, no questions asked — shocked Congress into passing the Gun Control Act of 1968, which required face-to-face gun sales through licensed dealers.
Now the Trump administration is systematically dismantling those same safeguards while Donald Trump Jr. positions himself to profit from the resulting “Amazon for guns” marketplace.
The proposed regulatory overhaul reads like a tech startup’s wish list. Trump’s DOJ and ATF want:
- Digital identity verification to replace in-person ID checks
- Electronic Form 4473 submissions instead of paper trails
- Expanded Brady permit exemptions that bypass background check delays
Most notably, USPS rule changes would allow handgun shipping nationwide — recreating the mail-order system that made Oswald’s purchase possible. Together, these changes would enable remote gun ordering with home delivery, according to regulatory critics tracking the proposals.
GrabAGun, the Texas-based online retailer that markets itself as the “Amazon of guns,” stands to benefit enormously from this deregulation. The company’s March 2025 announcement revealed Donald Trump Jr. as both a board member and significant shareholder through a SPAC deal backed by 1789 Capital.
GrabAGun explicitly targets mobile-first consumers who want to shop for firearms “the same way they purchase everything else,” promising a “non-regulated look and feel” despite selling assault-style rifles and tactical accessories.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington highlights troubling timing concerns. The SEC approved GrabAGun’s public listing shortly after the Trump-appointed SEC chair attended another Trump Jr. business party. The regulatory framework his father’s administration is building directly aligns with GrabAGun’s business model of frictionless online gun sales.
Supporters argue these changes simply modernize outdated processes for law-abiding citizens, but watchdog groups see a pattern of regulatory favoritism benefiting the president’s family.
The silencer industry already demonstrates how this system works at scale — companies like Silencer Central use digital verification and dealer networks for home delivery within existing regulations. Trump’s proposals would extend similar mechanisms to ordinary firearms, potentially transforming gun commerce forever.
Whether Americans want their deadliest consumer products sold with Amazon’s convenience remains the unasked question as this deregulatory experiment unfolds.
