On July 1, 2025, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan cast one of the 50 votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut the $200 federal tax on silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns to zero. A federal judge then held that, with the tax gone, the registration rules for those weapons had lost their constitutional basis, and the Justice Department let the ruling stand and stopped enforcing registration nationwide in October 2026.
Sullivan cast the deciding vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general in August 2026, when the department decided not to appeal, and voted to confirm the ATF director who carried out the change. He also voted to confirm Pam Bondi, whose Justice Department ended the policy of revoking licenses from gun dealers who break the law and let rapid-fire trigger devices back on the market, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose CDC lost most of its violence prevention staff. Alaska's firearm death rate was nearly twice the national rate in 2024.
Dan Sullivan's Votes and Confirmations on Gun Laws
- Sullivan Cast One of the 50 Votes for the Law That Ended Federal Registration of Silencers and Short-Barreled Guns. On July 1, 2025, Dan Sullivan voted yes on H.R. 1, which passed 50 to 50 with the Vice President's vote. Section 70436 replaced the $200 federal tax on silencers, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns with $0 for any firearm transferred which is not described in paragraph (1), starting January 1, 2026. On August 5, 2026, a federal judge in Texas held that zeroing the tax eliminated the constitutional basis for the NFA's regulation of those firearms. The Justice Department opted not to appeal the judge's decision, and on October 9, 2026 the ATF said ATF will also no longer require such items to be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer record. As CBS2 Idaho put it, When Congress eliminated the tax itself in the One Big Beautiful Bill, Idaho argued the registration requirements could not stand alone. The registry helps federal ATF agents trace the chain of firearm ownership, and Everytown says silencers make it difficult for bystanders to recognize that a gun has been fired.
- Sullivan Cast the Deciding Vote to Confirm Todd Blanche, Whose Justice Department Let the Registration Ruling Stand. Sullivan voted to confirm Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general on March 5, 2025 and as attorney general on August 8, 2026. The second vote was 50 to 49, so Blanche would not have been confirmed without Sullivan's vote. Under Blanche, The Justice Department opted not to appeal the judge's August 2026 ruling and applied it nationwide. Registration still applies only in one of about 15 states that have state laws requiring it.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm the ATF Director Who Stopped Registering Silencers and Short-Barreled Guns. On April 29, 2026, Sullivan voted to confirm Robert Cekada as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; he was confirmed 59 to 39. Before his confirmation, Cekada wrote that budget cuts were eroding core enforcement operations and markedly constraining ATF's ability to help local police. In October 2026 his agency announced that ATF will also no longer require such items to be registered.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm Pam Bondi, Whose Justice Department Eased Rules for Gun Dealers Who Break the Law. On February 4, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general; she was confirmed 54 to 46. In April 2025 Bondi's department ended the policy of revoking the licenses of dealers who willfully break the law, including selling a gun without a background check or falsifying business records, The Trace reported; an estimate The Trace cites says 5 percent of federally licensed gun sellers are responsible for 90 percent of recovered crime guns. In May 2025 the department settled a case to allow forced reset triggers, which enables semiautomatic rifles to fire faster than M16 machine guns. Under a rights-restoration rule, people who have served time for misdemeanor domestic violence offenses could apply 10 years after their sentence is up to regain gun rights, and by September 2025 80 percent of the ATF's roughly 2,500 agents had been pulled into immigration task force work.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose CDC Lost Most of Its Violence Prevention Staff. On February 13, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services; he was confirmed 52 to 48. In April 2025 the CDC's Division of Violence Prevention was cut, and its former director estimated that the unit lost about three-quarters of its staff. The CDC and NIH canceled $20 million in gun violence research grants, The Trace reported.
What the Gun Changes Dan Sullivan Enabled Mean for Alaska
- Firearm deaths. Alaska recorded 182 firearm deaths in 2024, a rate of 24.4 per 100,000 people, against a national rate of 12.8, according to KFF's analysis of CDC data.
- Registration. Alaskans who buy a silencer or short-barreled rifle or shotgun no longer pay the federal tax or register the weapon with the ATF, after the court ruling the Justice Department opted not to appeal. The ATF will also no longer require such items to be registered.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dan Sullivan on Guns
What is Dan Sullivan's record on guns under Trump?
Dan Sullivan cast one of the 50 votes for the 2025 law that cut the federal tax on silencers and short-barreled guns to zero, after which a judge struck the registration rules and the Justice Department stopped enforcing them nationwide. Sullivan cast the deciding vote to confirm Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose department declined to appeal, and voted to confirm the ATF director who carried out the change. He also voted to confirm Pam Bondi and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose agencies eased rules for law-breaking gun dealers and cut gun violence research.
Did Dan Sullivan vote to deregulate silencers?
Dan Sullivan voted for the 2025 law that set the federal tax on silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns at $0. The law itself kept registration, but a judge then held that without the tax the registration rules could not stand, and the Justice Department under Todd Blanche, whom Sullivan voted to confirm, opted not to appeal.
How many people die from guns in Alaska?
Alaska, the state Dan Sullivan represents, had 182 firearm deaths in 2024, about 24 per 100,000 people, nearly twice the national rate, according to KFF. Sullivan voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose department canceled $20 million in gun violence research grants.
Last updated: 2026-10-25