American gun owners no longer need to register their short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors.
New guidance by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirms that the federal government will no longer enforce certain registration requirements for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and suppressors.
The ATF's October 9th move follows Attorney General Todd Blanche's announcement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would not appeal a recent court ruling that declared the registration requirement could no longer pass constitutional muster without the tax requirement.
How did we get here?
In August, the National Firearms Act (NFA) lost much of its power after Texas U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled in Silencer Shop Foundation, et al. v. ATF (consolidated with Jensen v. ATF) that requiring registration for suppressors and short-barreled firearms violated the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Unlike many Second Amendment rulings over the last few years, this decision was not based on the 2022 landmark Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., INC. v. Bruen—which declared that all firearm laws must be rooted in the "historical tradition" of firearm regulation. Hendrix's ruling is the result of a snowball effect set in motion by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.