A federal judge in Texas has invalidated key provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) for specific groups, allowing the purchase and sale of silencers and certain firearms without federal registration. Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas ruled that because Congress previously eliminated the taxes associated with these items, the constitutional basis for their regulation no longer exists. The ruling took effect after the Justice Department (DOJ) declined to file an emergency appeal within a one-week deadline set by the court.
The NFA, established in 1934, originally imposed a $200 tax and mandatory registration for weapons deemed particularly dangerous, such as short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles, and suppressors. In 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reduced the tax for these items to $0. Gun rights groups, including Gun Owners of America and the Silencer Shop Foundation, subsequently sued the federal government, arguing that the lack of a tax removed the legal justification for the registration requirements.
Judge Hendrix agreed with the plaintiffs, stating that the challenged provisions could no longer be justified under Congress’s taxing power since the taxes were "zeroed out." The DOJ, which has recently published a final rule aiming to restore gun rights to certain individuals with felony convictions, stated it is currently assessing the impact of the ruling. Meanwhile, gun control advocates, including Everytown for Gun Safety, stated the decision undermines public safety by allowing these weapons to enter communities without oversight.
The concrete day-to-day change for eligible residents in these states is the ability to bypass the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) registration process for the specified equipment. However, the ruling creates a "patchwork" of regulations because it does not apply nationwide and does not override the federal Gun Control Act or existing state-level registration requirements. The ATF stated it will continue processing forms for those not covered by the ruling, while legal experts and the plaintiffs advise individuals to consult attorneys before forgoing registration to avoid potential legal conflicts between state and federal law.
The decision sets a precedent by linking the constitutionality of the NFA’s regulatory framework directly to Congress’s power to tax. If this reasoning is upheld or expanded, it could lead to the permanent dismantling of federal oversight for these classes of weapons. Currently, two similar cases challenging the NFA are pending in Missouri and Kentucky. While the DOJ missed the August 2026 deadline for an emergency appeal, it retains more than a month to file a non-emergency appeal. Gun rights groups and some Republican lawmakers are currently pressuring the DOJ to apply the Texas ruling nationwide.