Donald Trump Jr. could benefit financially from a proposed federal government rule change scaling back gun regulations.
It’s the latest instance of a Trump family member poised to reap the rewards of the 80-year-old president’s administration, even if there was no foreknowledge of the proposal, as his son claims.
Trump Jr., 48, sits on the board of and is a shareholder in GrabAGun, which has been dubbed the “Amazon of guns.” The company went public last July.
Now, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is mulling what GrabAGun chief executive Marc Nemati said “could be the most significant change to firearms retail distribution in decades,” The Washington Post reported.
The rule change, according to Reuters, would make shipping guns to people’s homes easier by no longer requiring online buyers to submit to an in-person background check and having to pick up guns at brick-and-mortar stores. Instead, licensed dealers would be allowed to ship guns in-state to those who verify their identity and complete a background check online. A seven-day waiting period after informing law enforcement would apply.
In a May earnings call, Nemati said the company was “uniquely positioned for this opportunity.” The president’s son, therefore, was too.
If Trump Jr. still has the 311,433 shares in GrabAGun that he bought last June, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission form, then they are currently worth just over $731,000.
They used to be worth much more. GrabAGun’s stock value has fallen considerably since last July, when the company went public. That month, one share reached a peak price of $17.22. Now it’s just $2.35.
A spokesperson for Trump Jr., Andrew Surabian, told Reuters that Trump Jr. wasn’t involved in the proposed ATF rule change.
“Don is a lifelong businessman and vocal advocate of our Second Amendment rights,” Surabian said. “He does not interface with the Federal Government as part of his role with any company that he invests in or advises and had zero involvement in this particular decision.”
Nemati also told Reuters that he didn’t have advanced knowledge of the proposal, nor did Trump Jr.
When reached for comment, a White House official likewise told the Daily Beast in part that Trump Jr. had no role in the ATF’s potential change, adding, “Any baseless speculation by outside voices should be characterized as just that: baseless speculation.”
The Daily Beast has also contacted Surabian, GrabAGun, and the ATF for comment.
Trump Jr., in an interview last summer, was thrilled with the company’s prospects.
“To be able to come back to the New York Stock Exchange and actually take a gun company public feels like such a vindication of all the insanity, all of the woke nonsense that we’ve been watching and facing for the last decade in America,” he told Fox Business Network. “It’s a triumphant return.”
The ATF estimates that, eventually, half of gun buyers will use home-delivery, Reuters reports. The U.S. has by far the most amount of guns per people—about 121 for every 100 residents, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
