Gun rights advocates are celebrating a monumental victory for the Second Amendment after a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled key National Firearms Act restrictions unconstitutional, and the Trump Justice Department is refusing to appeal.
Two gun owners walked out of Silencer Shop in Leander, Texas, with suppressors without completing the federal registration and approval process that has controlled such transfers since 1934.
According to Gun Owners of America, these were the first lawful commercial suppressor transfers without NFA registration in 92 years.
“This is the first time in 92 years that any gun owner has been able to do this,” Aidan Johnston, GOA’s director of federal affairs, declared. “Previously, this would have been punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine per violation. So, this was a big federal law. We took a really big bite out of it.”
The recipients were GOA members Brandon Herrera and Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell. GOA and Silencer Shop had formally notified the Trump administration, the Justice Department, and the ATF of their plans. Federal authorities did not object.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who authored the legislation that zeroed out the NFA tax and was present for the historic transfers, confirmed the Justice Department is not expected to appeal the decision. Clyde later announced he had received direct confirmation from the Trump administration that the DOJ would not challenge the ruling.
“THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP and Attorney General Blanche, for delivering the most significant Second Amendment win in OVER 90 YEARS!” Clyde posted.
U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee in the Northern District of Texas, issued the ruling on August 5 in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF (consolidated with a related case). Hendrix held that once Congress eliminated the $200 making and transfer taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and certain other weapons in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the registration, fingerprinting, photo, and advance-approval requirements lost their constitutional foundation under the taxing power.
“Because today’s NFA does not generate any revenue from untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power,” Hendrix wrote. The government could not salvage the scheme under the Commerce Clause. The court permanently enjoined enforcement of those requirements against the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers.
The seven-day stay expired, the transfers happened, and the DOJ stood down.
The fight is far from over, the injunction is limited to covered parties and does not instantly erase every state restriction, but the first unregistered suppressors in 92 years are now in private hands.
“Next, we must ensure this is applied nationwide and is made permanent by rulemaking. You can count on me to fight to get it right—including in my home state of Georgia,” Rep. Clyde wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment