NFA Tax Nullification: Federal Court Strikes Down Suppressor Registration

At midnight on August 12, the Justice Department missed a deadline to appeal a federal court ruling that struck down nearly a century of federal gun registration requirements. For the first time since 1934, suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns can be acquired without the $200 NFA tax stamp and years of ATF paperwork — at least for the plaintiffs and 27 states that sued.

What the Texas ruling did

On August 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas issued a permanent injunction barring the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from enforcing National Firearms Act registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barrel shotguns. The court gave the Department of Justice seven days to seek a stay. That deadline expired at midnight on August 12 (Wednesday).

The ruling stems from Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, case No. 6:25-cv-00056-H, which was consolidated with Jensen v. ATF. The lead plaintiff, Silencer Shop Foundation, sued after Congress eliminated the $200 NFA transfer tax through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year.

The $200 tax that vanished

The National Firearms Act of 1934 imposed a $200 tax on transfers of suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns. Adjusted for inflation, that $200 in 1934 is worth approximately $4,813 today. Congress reduced the tax to $0 through Pub. L. 119-21, signed July 4, 2025, with the change taking effect January 1, 2026.

On that January 1 date, ATF processed over 150,000 e-Forms — 60 times the typical daily volume of about 2,500. The NFA tax stamp that once took months to approve and required fingerprints, photos, and local law enforcement notification was effectively eliminated for these categories.

Judge Hendrix reasoned that the NFA’s registration scheme was justified solely under Congress’s taxing power. With the tax at zero, that constitutional basis disappeared. The court explicitly did not reach the Second Amendment claim, noting that the taxing-power argument alone was sufficient. Machine guns and destructive devices, which still carry the $200 tax, remain unaffected.

GOP lawmakers vs. DOJ

A letter sent August 11, 2026 to Attorney General Todd Blanche was signed by 46 House Republicans and 8 Republican Senators: John Barrasso, Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn, Mike Crapo, Steve Daines, Mike Lee, Cynthia Lummis, and Roger Marshall.

“An appeal would prolong regulatory uncertainty for law-abiding gun owners and businesses and would consume DOJ resources defending a position that this Congress and now a federal district court has said cannot stand,” the letter reads.

The letter urges Blanche to decline an appeal and instead begin rulemaking to apply the ruling nationwide. “Immediate application of the ruling nationwide is necessary to avoid the untenable alternative in the interim: a split enforcement regime in which the DOJ applies these requirements to one gun owner while declining to apply them to his neighbor,” it states.

Blanche’s own confirmation testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2026 said: “I defer to the measured judgment of Congress on whether the NFA should be repealed or weakened. The Department’s duty is to defend the constitutionality of the laws passed by this body.”

What gun-control groups say

Brady president Kris Brown called it a failure of public safety: “At midnight, uniquely lethal weapons and devices — including silencers, short-barreled rifles, and shotguns — were deregulated for the first time in nearly a century. The Department of Justice had the opportunity to act to protect our safety, but it failed to do so.”

Everytown for Gun Safety president John Feinblatt went further: “This decision is a clear sign that under the leadership of AG Blanche, who has strong family ties to the gun industry, DOJ is more concerned with protecting gun companies than public safety. We demand that AG Blanche appeal this dangerous ruling.”

Gun Owners of America’s Aidan Johnston celebrated the win: “The court just confirmed what everyone already knew: $0 taxes are invalid and the NFA is unconstitutional!”

What happens next

The Department of Justice still has a 60-day window from the August 5 ruling to file a full appeal. A DOJ spokesperson told CBS News: “The Department respects Americans’ Second Amendment rights and is currently assessing the impact of the court’s ruling.” No appeal has been filed as of August 13.

The permanent injunction currently applies only to the named plaintiffs and their members — including anyone who is a member of the Gun Owners of America or a customer of Silencer Shop in the 27 states where the suit was filed. The 27 states where suppressors can now be purchased without NFA registration are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

According to ATF data, of 2,382,403 machine guns registered in the federal National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, only 234,718 are transferable to civilians. The broader question of whether the ruling will be expanded to other states or appealed remains unresolved as Congress returns from recess.

Industry analysts note that the immediate spike in applications — over 150,000 e-Forms filed on a single day in January — demonstrates sustained demand. Whether that demand will be met depends on whether DOJ appeals, which it has so far declined to do.

The legal limbo leaves manufacturers, dealers, and gun owners uncertain. Some companies have already notified DOJ of intent to begin selling NFA items without registration. If the ruling survives an appeal, it could reshape firearms regulation the way the 1934 law originally intended — and then didn’t.