A federal judge has effectively gutted a portion of the National Firearms Act relating to firearm suppressors, among other things.
United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas ruled Wednesday, August 5, 2026, that the National Firearms Act no longer applies to suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other NFA items whose tax was reduced to $0 by Congress in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“In 2025, Congress eliminated the NFA’s transfer and making taxes for four categories of firearms: short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles, silencers, and a final, defined group of miscellaneous firearms,” Hendrix wrote in the 66-page opinion. “Because today’s NFA does not generate any revenue from untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power. 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.”
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach celebrated the decision.
“Today, the state of Kansas and our fellow plaintiffs won a great victory against the U.S. Department of Justice, which had been wrongly defending an unconstitutional law,” Kobach said. “The federal government has no right to demand that American citizens ask for permission before putting an accessory on their firearm to protect their hearing.”
While Hendrix did not rule on Second Amendment questions raised by the case, he made clear the registration requirements are unconstitutional.
“But to be clear: The challenged NFA provisions are unconstitutional,” Hendrix wrote. “Congress’s choice to eliminate the transfer and making taxes matters, and the defendants cannot save the NFA’s regulatory scheme by referring to a power that Congress never invoked. Efforts to render the NFA constitutional must come from Congress, not this Court.”
The case was brought by — among others — SilencerShop, SilencerShop Foundation, Palmetto State Armory, Silencer Co, B&T, Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, Gunowners of America, the National Rifle Association and 15 states. Originally there were two cases, Jensen v. ATF, and Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, but they were consolidated into Jensen.
Because the United States Supreme Court limited the injunctive power of district courts, the ruling only applies to members of the organizations who brought the suit, or residents of the states who joined.
The court’s injunction prohibits ATF from enforcing the NFA registration requirements against Kansas gun owners. According to Kobach, as a result, Kansans will soon be able to purchase the covered firearms without the “burdensome and unnecessary registration requirements that restricted Kansans from exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
In addition to Kansas, attorneys general from Texas, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming joined the case.
Taxing power at heart of National Firearms Act case
In 1934, Congress invoked its taxing power to enact the National Firearms Act. The NFA required individuals — previously $200 — before transferring or making covered firearms, which included suppressors, commonly known as silencers.
“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,” Hendrix wrote. “Thus, the regulatory provisions must be enjoined as unconstitutional because they exceed Congress’s enumerated powers.”
In the OBBBA, Congress attempted to simply remove the affected items from the NFA, but the Senate parliamentarian struck the language, and Congress simply reduced the tax to zero.
According to the Daily Caller Foundation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has admitted in multiple legal filings since May 2025 that the “beneficial use” of suppressors overwhelms their misuse by criminals.
Indeed, there are millions of so-called “silencers” in circulation in the U.S., and they are only used in the commission of a crime about 44 times a year. However, recently Jordan Salinas intervened to help stop a mass shooting in Idaho while armed with a pistol equipped with a suppressor.
It is unclear whether or not the DOJ intends to appeal the decision.
