DOJ Allows NFA Registration Injunction to Take Effect for Silencers and Short-Barreled Firearms

The 92-year-old National Firearms Act (NFA) was designed to strictly regulate the most easily concealed and muffled weapons in the United States, establishing a rigorous federal registry that survived decades of legal challenges. But at midnight on August 13, 2026, the Justice Department allowed a federal injunction to take effect, effectively halting the enforcement of those registration requirements for a broad swath of gun owners. The missed deadline marks the first time since 1934 that covered individuals can lawfully acquire suppressors and short-barreled firearms without federal registration.[1][2]

The legal shift stems from the August 5 ruling by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Jensen v. ATF, a case consolidated with Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF. Hendrix ruled that the NFA's registration, fingerprinting, and approval requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns are unconstitutional. The court rejected the government's arguments that the regulations could be justified under the Commerce Clause or the Necessary and Proper Clause, strictly tying the registry to the government's power to tax.[3][5]

The structural mechanism behind the ruling traces back to the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping budget and policy package signed by President Trump. A provision within that law eliminated the $200 transfer and making tax on these specific NFA items. Because the Supreme Court historically upheld the NFA as an exercise of Congress's Article I taxing power, Hendrix concluded that zeroing out the tax removed the constitutional foundation for the registry itself, rendering the associated paperwork and wait times invalid.[1][3]

The Justice Department was given a one-week window to request a stay, which would have kept the rules in place while the government prepared an appeal. By missing that midnight deadline, the department opened the door for plaintiffs to immediately bypass the federal registry. Within hours, members of the Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation began acquiring suppressors without submitting ATF Form 4s, staging purchases to highlight the new legal reality.[1][2]

The injunction is not a universal nationwide block. It applies specifically to the named plaintiffs, their members, and customers of the involved retailers, such as Palmetto State Armory and Silencer Shop. However, because these advocacy organizations boast hundreds of thousands of members—and allow individuals to join instantly—the practical effect is a massive, immediate deregulation of the NFA market for anyone willing to pay a membership fee.[2][5]

Gun control advocates have sharply criticized the DOJ's inaction, viewing the lapsed deadline as an abdication of duty. Organizations like Brady and Giffords argue that the department failed to defend public safety, noting that the registry and enhanced background checks were explicitly designed to keep uniquely lethal weapons out of the hands of criminals. They warn that unleashing unregistered short-barreled rifles and silencers onto the commercial market dismantles a framework that has successfully kept those specific weapons out of most crime scenes for nearly a century.[1]

Conversely, Second Amendment groups and Republican lawmakers are pressing the DOJ to accept the ruling permanently and expand it. A coalition of 50 congressional Republicans, led by Rep. Andrew Clyde, sent a formal letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche urging the department to decline any future appeal. The lawmakers argued that an appeal would only prolong regulatory uncertainty and waste resources defending a position that Congress intentionally undermined by eliminating the tax.[4]

The Justice Department maintains that it is assessing the impact of the court's ruling and still has until October 5 to file a formal appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the interim, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has stated it will continue processing NFA forms for those not covered by the injunction. This leaves a highly unusual, bifurcated regulatory landscape where federal criminal enforcement depends entirely on a buyer's organizational memberships, creating deep uncertainty for local gun dealers and law enforcement agencies alike.[1][2][5]