Federal approval and registration are no longer required to make or transfer suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns, after a judge ruled those rules fell along with their $200 tax.
Story Highlights
- The ATF has stopped enforcing federal approval, registration and marking rules for suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns.
- A federal judge in Texas ruled in August that the rules could not stand once Congress cut their $200 tax to zero.
- The Justice Department chose not to appeal and applied the change to everyone, not only the people who sued.
- Machine guns and destructive devices stay fully covered, and state laws still apply.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the federal agency that enforces gun laws, released its new guidance on Friday, October 9, and stopped enforcing the rules that same day. The reason is a tax change: Congress cut the $200 tax on these items to zero in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, and in August a federal judge ruled that the rules built on that tax could not stand without it.
What The Court Decided And Why It Matters
The National Firearms Act is a 1934 law aimed at mobster-era weapons. For decades it made people get ATF approval before making or buying certain guns, register each one with the federal government and pay a $200 tax, proven by a paper “tax stamp.” A suppressor, also called a silencer, is a device that fits on the end of a barrel to reduce the sound of a shot. A short-barreled rifle is a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches, and a short-barreled shotgun has a barrel shorter than 18 inches.
Judge James Wesley Hendrix serves on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and was appointed by President Trump. On August 5, he ruled in two joined cases, Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF and Jensen v. ATF, brought by Republican-led states, gun rights groups including Gun Owners of America, and gun owners. He found that Congress passed the law under its power to tax. Once the tax on these items fell to zero, he wrote, the law’s rules “cannot be upheld under the taxing power.” He also rejected the argument that Congress’s power over trade between the states could hold the rules up.
How The Justice Department And ATF Are Responding
In September, the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Todd Blanche, decided not to appeal. According to reports, President Trump ordered that choice. On Friday, the ATF said it would not enforce the rules against anyone, not only those covered by the judge’s order. ATF Director Rob Cekada said, “The direction from the President, Congress, and the courts is clear.”
For these items, the ATF says it will no longer require prior approval to make or transfer them, entry in the national registry, or the markings the law required. The same goes for a small catch-all group the law calls “any other weapons.” Buyers still go through a licensed dealer, and dealers must still run background checks and keep records under the Gun Control Act of 1968. People barred from owning guns, such as convicted felons, are still barred.
Much stays the same. Machine guns and destructive devices, a legal term for explosives like grenades and some large-bore weapons, still carry the $200 tax and every National Firearms Act rule. State and local laws still apply. Some states ban these items outright and others require registration, so the ATF will keep processing applications for owners who need them. The ATF has been asked to clarify one point: travel across state lines. Its press release says owners still need its approval to take short-barreled rifles and shotguns across state lines, using a form known as Form 20, while its question-and-answer guide says it will not enforce that rule for these items.
What This Means For Rights, Responsibilities, And Risks
Gun rights groups cheered the news. Mark Jones, national director of Gun Owners of America, called the change one of the biggest victories against federal gun control and said his group wants the whole act and the ATF abolished. Before the change, gun groups had warned that breaking these rules could bring up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and the loss of gun rights.
The relief has limits worth knowing. The ruling rests on Congress’s taxing power, not on the Second Amendment, so legal writers note that if Congress put back even a small tax, the judge’s order would likely end. David Kopel of the University of Wyoming’s Firearms Research Center warned that a future administration could reverse the policy, and he advised gun shops not to overstock. Inside the Justice Department, many lawyers reportedly urged an appeal, arguing the ruling was hurting ongoing criminal cases. For owners, the steps are plain: check state law before making, buying or selling one of these items, keep records of any transfer, and watch for ATF word on interstate travel.
Sources:
cbsnews.com, clyde.house.gov, thetexan.news
