DOJ Stands Down on NFA Challenge After White House Intervention
According to sources in Congress and verified by CBS News, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will not appeal the decision in Silencer Shop Foundation v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
A United States District Court in Texas decided the case last month. The judge ruled that the National Firearms Act (NFA), as applied to suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and any other weapons (AOWs), is unconstitutional. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act eliminated the $200 tax on those devices and therefore removed the requirement to register them with the ATF, provide fingerprints, and submit photos.
“Because today’s NFA does not generate any revenue from untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power,” Judge Wesley Hendrix wrote. “And there is no sign in the NFA’s text, structure, or statutory history that Congress invoked any other power in crafting the NFA provisions at issue. Thus, the regulatory provisions must be enjoined as unconstitutional because they exceed Congress’s enumerated powers.”
NFA UPDATE
Read the full report from @CBSNews about President Trump’s personal decision NOT to appeal GOA’s victory in Silencer Shop v. ATF
“President Trump ordered @TheJusticeDept not to appeal a court ruling that loosened restrictions on firearms known as ‘gangster… https://t.co/QlW4uxNXFy
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) September 18, 2026
A tax must have a revenue-generating purpose, and the NFA is a tax, as the United States Supreme Court confirmed. Since the tax stamp fee was $0, it no longer generated revenue. The government argued that the special occupational tax (SOT) paid by federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to the ATF fulfilled the tax role, but the court rejected that argument. Judge Hendrix stayed his decision for seven days to give the government time to appeal.
The decision applied to current and future Gun Owners of America (GOA) members, Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition (FRAC) members, Silencer Shop customers, Palmetto State Armory (PSA) customers, B&T customers, and SilencerCo customers.
All a person or store needed to do was join GOA, and the need for NFA paperwork on suppressors and AOWs disappeared. For SBRs and SBSs, a member could build them without an ATF Form 1, but transfers still required a Form 4 because the Attorney General must be notified. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Texas), Texas State Rep. Wes Virdell, and Brandon Herrera joined GOA at Silencer Shop headquarters for the first Form 4473 suppressor transfer after the stay was lifted.
The government did not appeal, and the court lifted the stay. Although the court lifted the stay, the DOJ did not give up its right to appeal.
The DOJ debated whether to appeal behind closed doors. As AmmoLand News first reported, two camps existed inside the Justice Department. One side wanted to keep fighting in court. The other wanted the department to drop all defense of the NFA. As the debate raged inside the DOJ, the White House phone lines blew up. Gun owners and advocacy groups pushed President Donald Trump not to appeal the decision. Members of Congress also urged the White House not to appeal.
Now, President Trump himself has stepped in. The president has ordered the DOJ to stand down, meaning there will be no appeal.
Anti-gun groups frame the decision as a return to the days of “Al Capone” and treat the items as “gangster weapons,” without acknowledging that the firearms used by those gangsters, such as Thompson submachine guns, are still regulated under the NFA. These groups also frame the ruling as if ordinary gun laws now give criminals new tools. The White House has pushed back against this characterization by pointing out that people who were restricted from owning firearms before the ruling are still restricted now.
“Anyone who would have been prohibited from buying a firearm under the old structure is still prohibited from buying a firearm under the structure that now exists after the federal district court’s decision,” a White House spokesperson said. “All federal criminal statutes imposing additional charges or penalties for the unlawful possession of a firearm remain in place and will continue to be enforced by federal law enforcement.”
Some people have used the court ruling to avoid charges. Cameron Ty’quiz Silmon was charged with having an unregistered suppressor and a machine gun. He joined the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) Action Foundation, and Gun Owners of America (GOA). Because those parties are protected through the injunction, the charges for an unregistered suppressor were dismissed for Silmon. He is still facing other charges. That move cut a decade off his potential prison sentence.
Now that it is clear the decision will not be appealed, gun owners will look to the ATF for long-awaited guidance. The ATF has been slow to issue any, arguing that it is trying to get it right to protect gun owners and their property from a future, less friendly ATF.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @right2bear, or at www.crumpy.com.
