EPS Daily Brief, June 1, 2026: ATF Training Rounds, DHS PSO Awards, Tennessee Guard Rules

Good morning. Three items worth your attention as the week opens, all of them with direct operational consequences for trainers, operators, and federal contractors.

ATF proposes that training rounds are not “ammunition”

On May 6 the ATF published a proposed rule clarifying that inert, marking, and simulated-projectile training rounds do not meet the statutory definition of “ammunition” under the Gun Control Act, and therefore fall outside Gun Control Act and Arms Export Control Act import controls. The rule codifies a June 2025 Open Letter and is part of the Department of Justice and ATF’s broader 34-action rulemaking package. The comment window closes August 4, 2026.

The EPS angle: If you run force-on-force, UTM, Simunition, or marking-cartridge blocks, this matters. The proposed rule should preserve import flow and pricing for the consumables you depend on, and it removes a long-running ambiguity that has tripped up smaller trainers and force-on-force ranges. Operators planning instructor-level courses should expect the supply side to stabilize rather than tighten.

Source: Federal Register, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/06/2026-08914/importing-training-rounds

DHS awards 13 small businesses on armed PSO services vehicle

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Procurement Operations awarded 13 small businesses positions on a multiple-award acquisition vehicle for armed protective security officer services at federally leased and owned facilities. The vehicle was competed as a total small business set-aside, with 18 offers received.

The EPS angle: This is the live federal contracting lane for armed PSO work, and DHS continues to favor small-business pools for these services. If you are tracking subcontract paths or teaming opportunities, the 13 awardees on this vehicle will be the prime route to task orders at FPS-managed facilities over the next several years.

Source: GovCon Wire, https://www.govconwire.com/articles/dhs-contract-award-armed-pso-services-small-business

Tennessee armed guard rifle and shotgun endorsement now in force

Tennessee’s enhanced armed guard registration took effect January 1, 2026. Armed guards in the state must now obtain the enhanced registration before deploying with approved shotguns or rifles in a security capacity. The change brings Tennessee in line with several other states that decouple long-gun authorization from the baseline armed registration.

The EPS angle: For agencies and contract teams operating in Tennessee, audit your roster now. Any officer pulling shifts with a patrol rifle or shotgun without the enhancement is a compliance exposure for the licensee. Trainers should also note the curriculum implications, as long-gun qualification courses tied to the endorsement are an immediate revenue lane.

Source: Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Private Protective Services, https://www.tn.gov/commerce/regboards/pps/license/get/armed-security-guard.html

EPS Certified Training Program (CTP): If you are an instructor and you’ve been waiting for the right moment to bring your program under a recognized standard, this week is a good week. The CTP path lets you align your curriculum, your insurance posture, and your federal-facing credentials in one move. Instructor application details are on the CTP page at eightpointsolutions.app.

Eight Point Solutions. Training. Equipping. Protecting. eightpointsolutions.app

What This Means for Operators

Three unrelated items, one common thread: the rules that govern armed and licensed security work keep moving, and they move at different levels of government at the same time. The practical implications:

• A reclassification of training rounds changes procurement, storage, and transport handling, so the range plan and the inventory policy both need reading against the final rule rather than the proposal.
• A federal award vehicle for armed protective security officer services signals where contracting dollars are heading, which matters to any firm building toward federal work.
• A state level rifle and shotgun endorsement is a licensing change, not a policy preference. Officers working posts in that state need the endorsement on file before the post is staffed, and the company needs the record.
• Comment periods are the only point at which the industry gets input. Firms that ignore them inherit rules written by people who did not.

None of this is unusual. It is the ordinary background rate of regulatory change in this sector, which is exactly why compliance has to be a standing function rather than an annual scramble.

Background: Fifty States, Fifty Rulebooks: Security Officer Licensing in America, Less-Lethal Tools: What They Do, What They Don't, and Veteran-Owned and Mission-Ready: SDVOSBs in the Federal Marketplace.

Related reading: The Ants and the Rock: Notes From the Slowest News Week of the Year.

About the Author

Kawika Rogers is Managing Partner at Eight Point Solutions LLC, a veteran-led defense consulting and training firm based in Maryland. He served as an Infantry Team Leader in the United States Marine Corps, then directed the Field Training Officer program and served as an Armorer for Triple Canopy at Camp Arifjan and Camp Buehring in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He has also served in an advisory and operational capacity in Eastern Europe. Rogers holds over 15 instructor certifications in firearms, defensive tactics, and emergency medicine, and studied International Relations and Global Security at American Military University.

Eight Point Solutions LLC 7404 Executive Place, 5th Floor, Suite L-17, Lanham, MD 20706 // rogers@eightpointsolutions.com // eightpointsolutions.com SDVOSB // eightpointsolutions.app // eightpointsolutions-tech.com // SAM UEI: EY34ARER2TD9