A landmark federal ruling deregulating suppressors and short-barreled firearms took effect after the Trump DOJ declined to appeal, marking the biggest Second Amendment win in nearly a century.
A federal court ruling striking down registration requirements for suppressors and short-barreled firearms took effect this week after the Trump administration declined to appeal, delivering the most significant Second Amendment victory in nearly a century. The decision guts the enforcement machinery of the 1934 National Firearms Act, which for generations required law-abiding gun owners to register silencers, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns with the federal government. Gun rights advocates are calling it a historic breakthrough, while gun control groups are scrambling to respond.
On August 5, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas issued a 66-page order ruling that the National Firearms Act's registration and permitting requirements are unconstitutional as applied to untaxed firearms. The case, Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, consolidated with Jensen v. ATF, was brought by Silencer Shop, Gun Owners of America, Palmetto State Armory, and allied plaintiffs.
Judge Hendrix, a Trump appointee, reasoned that the NFA's regulatory structure rested on Congress's power to tax. Once the $200 transfer and making tax was zeroed out by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Trump, the judge wrote, the registration regime could no longer be upheld under the taxing power. Without a revenue purpose, the permitting process collapsed under constitutional scrutiny.
The ruling applied to suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other weapons covered by the act, freeing plaintiffs to buy and make those items without ATF registration, fingerprints, or photo submissions for the first time in 92 years.
Judge Hendrix gave the government one week to seek emergency relief before the injunction took effect. When the midnight deadline arrived on August 13, the Justice Department had filed no appeal, allowing the order to stand.
The department said it respects Americans' Second Amendment rights and is assessing the impact of the ruling. Officials also confirmed they would not seek a stay of the decision. The government retains a 60-day window to file an appeal, leaving the door open for a future challenge, but for now the deregulation stands.
The decision not to appeal drew immediate praise from Capitol Hill. Rep. Andrew Clyde, the Georgia Republican who founded Clyde Armory and authored the provision that eliminated the NFA tax, called it an incredible win for the Second Amendment and the greatest restoration of gun rights in almost a century.
Clyde led 47 Republican lawmakers in a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche urging the department not to appeal and to apply the ruling nationwide through formal rulemaking. The letter argued that an appeal would prolong regulatory uncertainty for law-abiding gun owners and businesses while consuming Justice Department resources defending a position Congress and the courts have already rejected.
Gun Owners of America's Erich Pratt hailed the outcome as one of the greatest Second Amendment victories in the last 100 years. Supporters gathered outside a gun shop just after midnight on August 13 to celebrate the moment the restrictions lapsed, with advocates describing the injunction as a mortal wound to the NFA.
Gun control groups reacted with alarm. The head of Brady: United Against Gun Violence warned that uniquely lethal weapons and devices, including silencers and short-barreled rifles, were deregulated for the first time in nearly a century. Everytown for Gun Safety accused the department of abandoning a century-old public protection.
The ruling's immediate scope is limited. It covers the plaintiffs in the Texas case, and states with their own restrictions, including California, New York, and Washington, D.C., can still enforce their bans. Standard background checks remain in place for all firearm purchases.
Two similar challenges to the National Firearms Act are still working through the courts in Missouri and Kentucky, and the Fifth Circuit ruled in June that suppressors qualify as arms protected by the Second Amendment. The ATF says it will continue processing forms under existing policy while the legal picture develops.
With the appeal clock running into October, the biggest question is whether the administration will cement the win through rulemaking. For millions of gun owners, the message is clear: the Second Amendment is being restored, one courtroom victory at a time.
A landmark federal ruling deregulating suppressors and short-barreled firearms took effect after the Trump DOJ declined to appeal, marking the biggest Second Amendment win in nearly a century.
freedomlinedispatch.com
