The midpoint of the year generally sees a downtick in legislative activity.  It’s odd that the year over year quieting of legislative halls across the country happens to coincide with several weeks of generally beautiful weather, isn’t it?  Nonetheless, legislative activity does still continue to some extent and this week saw various new bills, movement on bills, and laws passed across the country. 

We can never emphasize enough that FFLs need to be aware of all industry-directed legislation across the country.  Not only could failure to be informed end an FFL up in court (or worse), but they could be failing to take advantage of sales opportunities as well.  Here’s a small snippet of what happened this week: 

• Rhode Island House passes H 5436 Substitute A to ban Assault Weapons. In a State with a magazine capacity limit already in place, the RI House has passed a new bill to ban “assault weapons”.  The bill goes to the Democrat-controlled RI Senate for consideration. 
• Colorado Governor Signs Senate Bill 25-205. This bill provides that FFLs “may” request a serial number inquiry from law enforcement authorities when purchasing firearms from non-FFLs.  Although they “may” request this check and are not mandated to, if the FFL “should know” that a firearm was stolen they can be subject to significant penalties. 
• Nevada Governor Vetoes Assembly Bill 245. AB 245 would have prohibited sales of semiautomatic centerfire rifles or semiautomatic shotguns to individuals under 21 years of age. 
• Oklahoma Exempts Safety Devices from State Sales Tax. The Oklahoma legislature passed Senate Bill 50 which exempts defined safety devices from the State’s sales tax.  This exemption which goes into law without the Governor’s signature is effective November 1, 2025. 

There have been over 650 bills introduced nationwide that would directly impact the firearms industry.  While only a small subset will be passed that means a few dozen will likely pass and become law.  Not all of these are reported widely in news outlets so it is important for FFLs to have a means to access this information on their own.  Orchid’s eState™ software provides the means to access this information and enable FFLs to plan ahead instead of react.  The software also provides real-time feedback on whether firearms, ammunition, silencers, magazines, and accessories are legal in a given jurisdiction.  It may be used as a standalone piece of software or integrated into your eComm, ERP, WMS, or POS system.  Learn more here.