The ATF Improvement and Modernization Act of 2025, or AIM Act, seeks to significantly enhance the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) ability to enforce federal gun safety laws by eliminating various long-standing statutory restrictions. A primary focus is the repeal of the "Tiahrt Amendments," which have historically limited the ATF's capacity to release firearms trace data to the public and use it for broad statistical analysis of gun-related crime. This change would allow for greater transparency and more comprehensive data utilization in investigations.

The bill also removes prohibitions on the Department of Justice consolidating or centralizing firearms acquisition and disposition records from federal firearms licensees (FFLs), potentially enabling a national database of gun sales. Furthermore, it eliminates restrictions preventing the ATF from requiring FFLs to conduct physical inventories of their firearms and from retaining NICS background check records for longer than 24 hours. These provisions aim to improve the agency's oversight and investigative capabilities by removing past appropriations riders.

Additional changes include repealing bans on processing Freedom of Information Act requests related to firearm traces and removing limitations on the frequency of FFL record-keeping inspections. The legislation also revises the standard for FFL revocation and eligibility from "willful" violations to "knowing" violations, potentially making it easier to revoke licenses for non-compliance. Finally, it streamlines the appeals process for FFL revocations by eliminating "de novo" review and restricting the introduction of new evidence.