A Texas court blew the tax foundation out from under the 1934 registry regime. DOJ declined to appeal.
The federal government just backed away from one of its oldest firearm-control systems.
Effective Oct. 9, the ATF says it will no longer enforce National Firearms Act requirements that forced Americans to seek ATF approval, pay a tax stamp, and register short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and “any other weapons.” The policy applies nationwide, not just to the plaintiffs who beat the agency in Texas.
The ATF’s own announcement is plain: the agency will not enforce the pre-approval, registration, tax-stamp, or related NFA rules for those four categories.
The change follows the Northern District of Texas decision in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF. The court held that Congress built the NFA’s approval-and-registry apparatus on its taxing power. Congress later zeroed the making and transfer tax for these arms in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The court ruled the regulatory structure could not survive on that basis, as NRA-ILA reported.
Attorney General Todd Blanche declined an appeal. ATF then extended the non-enforcement policy to all Americans.
Machine guns and destructive devices remain fully subject to the NFA and its $200 tax. State and local restrictions still control where they are stricter. Licensed dealers must still run the standard Form 4473 and NICS check. Interstate travel with short-barreled rifles and shotguns still requires a Form 20.
But ATF has stopped enforcing the federal NFA registry gate for the arms Congress zeroed out.
