Gun Rights Advocates Seize Victory in Federal Court
Gun rights supporters are acting quickly to capitalize on a significant legal win after a judge deemed longstanding firearms regulations unconstitutional. Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Silencer Shop, a federally licensed firearms dealer involved in a notable judgment concerning silencers, informed the administration on Thursday that they would begin to transfer gun silencers without following the National Firearms Act’s (NFA) registration and approval process that’s been in place for many years.
Just after midnight on Thursday, two gun owners reportedly exited a Texas gun store with silencers, bypassing the federal registration process that has been mandatory for generations, according to GOA’s claims.
Brandon Herrera and Texas Representative Wes Bardell are said to have acquired the suppressors from a silencer shop located in Leander, Texas. Gun rights groups are heralding this as the first legitimate transfer without registration since the enactment of the National Firearms Act back in 1934. Aidan Johnston, the federal director for Gun Owners of America, mentioned in an interview that this marked the first time in 92 years that such a transfer could occur.
“Before this, violating the law could result in a decade behind bars and hefty fines, so this was a very serious federal matter,” Johnston noted, emphasizing the historical significance of the ruling.
Republican Representative Andrew Clyde, who witnessed the midnight transfer and co-authored the bill responsible for the ruling, described the day as “literally the biggest Second Amendment victory in our country’s history,” adding it represented a monumental moment for both the nation and Second Amendment rights.
The ruling is expected to stand without opposition from the federal government. Clyde confirmed that he received word from the Trump administration indicating the Justice Department would not seek to appeal the court’s decision.
Eric Pratt, executive vice president of Gun Owners of America, stated that their organization aimed to eliminate the NFA’s unconstitutional restrictions and pledged to continue the fight to remove such limitations. “The days of federally registering constitutionally protected weapons must end,” he asserted.
The legal struggle dates back to a settlement reached by Republicans in 2025, which sought to roll back the NFA’s limitations on suppressors and short-barreled firearms. When lawmakers blocked some regulatory relief initiatives, the final One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump, aimed to eliminate the NFA’s manufacturing and transfer taxes for certain weapons, effective January 1, 2026.
Gun rights proponents quickly moved to act upon this change. On the same day of the bill’s signing, organizations like the Gun Owners of America and the Silencer Shop Foundation initiated a lawsuit against the federal government, claiming the NFA’s registration and authorization requirements were no longer constitutionally viable. Since then, 15 states have backed the challenge.
In response, the Justice Department argued that other NFA taxes could still legally sustain some of the remaining regulations.
Johnston pointed out, “Congress didn’t entirely repeal this law; it simply lowered that old 1934 tax from $200 to nothing. And we all know zero dollars don’t equate to tax revenue.”
On August 5, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendricks, appointed by Trump, sided with the challengers, deciding that once Congress removes levies and transfer taxes, the regulations intended to facilitate tax collection lose their constitutional basis. He permanently barred federal authorities from enforcing these contested rules against the plaintiffs and their members but didn’t issue a nationwide injunction.
However, while the plaintiffs argued that the NFA’s registration and approval requirements infringed upon the Second Amendment, Hendricks remarked that it was Congress’ responsibility, not the court’s, to determine the NFA’s constitutionality.
