Federal Court Deals Major Blow to NFA Registration of Suppressors and Short-Barreled Rifles

A federal court has delivered a major victory for Second Amendment advocates, ruling that the federal government's remaining National Firearms Act registration requirements for suppressors and short-barreled firearms are unconstitutional.

The ruling came in Jensen v. ATF, a case challenging the continued application of the National Firearms Act (NFA) after Congress reduced the applicable NFA taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and certain other weapons to zero.

The decision could mark a significant turning point in the decades-long federal regulation of these commonly owned firearms and accessories.

A 90-Year-Old Law Faces a Constitutional Challenge

The National Firearms Act was enacted in 1934 and created a special federal regulatory system for certain classes of firearms.

Among other things, the NFA required registration and imposed a $200 tax on the manufacture or transfer of regulated items, including suppressors and short-barreled rifles.

For decades, gun owners who wanted to legally acquire these items had to navigate the federal registration and approval process.

But Congress recently changed one of the fundamental components of that system.

The applicable NFA taxes were reduced to $0.

That created a significant constitutional question: If the federal government is no longer collecting a tax on these items, what constitutional authority remains for imposing the NFA's registration and approval requirements?

That question became the centerpiece of Jensen v. ATF.

The Court's Decision

On August 5, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

The court concluded that the remaining NFA registration, application, approval, and related requirements for untaxed suppressors and short-barreled firearms could no longer be justified under Congress's taxing power.

The Second Amendment Foundation, which supported the litigation, described the ruling as a major step toward dismantling portions of the NFA.

The case was consolidated with Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, bringing together multiple plaintiffs challenging the federal registration system.

The Stay Has Now Expired

There was another major development this week.

Following the August 5 ruling, the court gave the government a limited period to seek a stay pending appeal.

That deadline passed without the government obtaining an extension.

As a result, the injunction went into effect. The Second Amendment Foundation announced on August 13 that the government had not sought to extend the stay and that the injunction was therefore now operative.

That is an important development because it means the court's ruling is no longer sitting behind the temporary stay that initially prevented the injunction from taking effect.

But This Does Not Mean "NFA Is Gone"

Gun owners should pay close attention to an important distinction.

The court's ruling does not simply erase the entire National Firearms Act, nor does it automatically make every suppressor or short-barreled rifle legal for every person in every state.

The current injunction has a defined scope covering the plaintiffs and certain members or customers associated with the organizations and businesses involved in the litigation.

The precise application of the injunction—and how ATF will implement it—still requires clarification.

That means gun owners should not assume that they can immediately disregard federal or state firearms laws.

The Second Amendment Foundation itself has acknowledged that there are still unanswered questions about how the injunction will be interpreted and how the federal government will treat affected firearms and individuals.

Why the Ruling Could Be Much Bigger

Even with those limitations, the constitutional reasoning behind the decision could have enormous consequences.

The government historically relied in part on its taxing authority to justify the NFA's regulatory structure.

Once Congress reduced the relevant tax to zero, the plaintiffs argued that the foundation for the remaining registration requirements disappeared.

Judge Hendrix agreed.

That creates a potentially powerful precedent: the federal government cannot simply retain a regulatory system after eliminating the constitutional mechanism it relied upon to justify that system.

That principle could extend beyond suppressors and short-barreled rifles as courts consider other challenges to the NFA.

Pressure Mounts on the DOJ

The ruling has already prompted members of Congress to call on the Department of Justice to go even further.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, joined by nearly 50 Republican members of Congress, urged Attorney General Todd Blanche not to appeal the ruling and instead directed the DOJ to adopt its constitutional holding nationwide through formal rulemaking.

That would be a dramatic development.

Rather than limiting the ruling to the parties covered by the injunction, nationwide implementation could potentially eliminate the NFA registration requirements at issue for law-abiding Americans across the country.

Whether the DOJ takes that step remains to be seen.

A Major Second Amendment Victory

For gun owners, Jensen v. ATF represents something much larger than a dispute over paperwork.

For nearly a century, the federal government has maintained a separate regulatory regime for suppressors and short-barreled firearms.

Now, a federal court has ruled that significant portions of that system lack a constitutional foundation after Congress eliminated the underlying tax.

The ruling does not end the fight.

The federal government could still pursue further legal options, and questions remain about the scope and practical implementation of the injunction. State laws also remain an important consideration.

But the direction of this battle is unmistakable.

A federal judge has struck directly at the foundation of the NFA's registration system for suppressors and short-barreled firearms.

And for the first time in generations, a path toward dismantling some of the federal government's most burdensome firearm regulations may be opening.

The NFA was built in 1934. In 2026, Jensen v. ATF may have opened the door to finally bringing some of those restrictions into the dustbin of history.