In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns exceed Congress’s constitutional authority after Congress eliminated the NFA’s transfer and making taxes on those arms.
The court concluded that Congress enacted the NFA as an exercise of its taxing power and that the statute’s extensive regulatory requirements—including registration, applications, ATF approval, fingerprinting, and related criminal penalties—were constitutionally permissible only because they aided the collection of the NFA’s taxes. The court held that once Congress eliminated the transfer and making taxes for suppressors, SBRs, and SBSs last year, the constitutional foundation for those regulatory provisions disappeared.
The court rejected the government’s argument that the remaining regulations could instead be justified under the Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause, explaining that Congress enacted the challenged provisions solely pursuant to its taxing authority. The court therefore held the challenged provisions unconstitutional on Article I enumerated-powers grounds and declined to reach the plaintiffs’ Second Amendment claims.
The Court stayed the effect of the Final Judgment for seven days to allow the government an opportunity to seek relief from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals if it so desires.
The NRA’s case, Jensen v. ATF, was brought alongside the American Suppressor Association, Second Amendment Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition, with the plaintiffs Texas State Rifle Association, FPC Action Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Hot Shots Custom LLC, and individuals John Jensen, Jeremy Neusch, and David Smith. The Jensen case was ultimately consolidated with Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF.
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