The National Rifle Association of America (NRA), American Suppressor Association (ASA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Prime Protection STL Tactical Boutique and two members of the organizations last week filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The case, Brown v. ATF, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Until President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), the NFA established a $200 tax and tax-enforcement registration regime on certain classes of firearms, including suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and NFA-defined “any other weapons.” With the elimination of this excise tax in the OBBB, the joint complaint alleges that the NFA registration regime is no longer justifiable as an exercise of Congress’s taxing power, nor any other Article I power.
The lawsuit also asserts that the NFA’s registration regime for suppressors and short-barreled rifles violates the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court has established that any regulation on arms-bearing conduct must be consistent with our nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The complaint argues that there is no tradition that supports the NFA’s registration regime for protected arms such as suppressors and short-barreled rifles.
You can read the lawsuit here.
“The Constitution grants Congress only limited powers—none of which authorize the registration of privately owned firearms,” Doug Hamlin, NRA Executive Vice President and CEO said. “In fact, as we expect the courts to recognize in our case, the Second Amendment forbids it. This infringement of individual rights has gone on far too long.”
“The National Firearms Act has infringed on law-abiding Americans’ right to keep and bear arms for nearly a century,” John Commerford, Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action said. “Congress took a major step by eliminating the NFA tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms through the OBBB, and we’re proud to work alongside other leading Second Amendment organizations to finish the job.”
“The National Firearms Act has been a weight around the neck of law-abiding gun owners for nearly a century,” Knox Williams, President and Executive Director of the American Suppressor Association said. “With the elimination of the excise tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs through the One Big Beautiful Bill, our lawsuit challenges the NFA as an unconstitutional registry of now untaxed firearms. Common sense and the law are on our side, and we look forward to fighting on behalf of all Americans in Federal Court.”
“The National Firearms Act's registration scheme only exists to ensure that the tax on NFA firearms was paid,” Adam Kraut, Executive Director of the Second Amendment Foundation said. “With Congress removing the tax on silencers, short-barreled firearms, and ‘any other weapons,’ the continued inclusion of these items in the NFA serves no purpose, except continuing to retain an impermissible hurdle to the exercise of one’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We look forward to relegating this unconstitutional law to the history books.”
“The National Firearms Act isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s a tyrannical abomination,” Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs said. “Not only does the NFA violate your Second Amendment rights, but Congress never had the lawful authority to pass it in the first place. That makes it a double abuse of power, violating both the right to keep and bear arms and the hard limits the Constitution places on the federal government. We’re proud to fight alongside our allies to end this corrupt, immoral law so peaceable Americans can exercise their rights when, where and how they choose.”
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