The US will now use a single list of countries banned from importing weapons

The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) wants to update its rules for importing weapons. It will stop using its own outdated list of banned countries and instead use a list from the US Department of State.

For years, the ATF maintained its own list of countries from which it denied applications to import defense articles. This meant two different US government agencies had different rules about which countries were considered a threat. Now, the ATF will defer to the Department of State's list, which is regularly updated and reflects current foreign policy.