FPC Moves Forward in Lawsuit to Strike Down National Firearms Act

June 25, 2026
4:21 am

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The Firearms Policy Coalition’s latest filing in Roberts v. ATF isn’t just another procedural step—it’s a direct assault on the 90-year-old scaffolding that has let the federal government treat certain arms as second-class citizens. By arguing that the National Firearms Act’s registration, taxation, and de-facto prohibition regime cannot survive Bruen’s text-and-tradition test, FPC is forcing courts to confront whether a law born in the shadow of Prohibition and the Great Depression still deserves constitutional immunity. The coalition’s diverse plaintiffs—from individual owners to manufacturers and Jewish and secular liberty groups—underscore that this isn’t a niche suppressor hobbyist complaint; it’s a broad recognition that the NFA’s $200 tax stamp and bureaucratic maze function as de-facto bans on common arms the Founders would have recognized as protected. What makes the brief especially sharp is its refusal to accept the government’s favorite fallback: that “sensitive” or “unusual” weapons fall outside the Second Amendment’s plain text. Instead, FPC marshals historical evidence showing that short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and suppressors were in civilian hands at the Founding and throughout the 19th century without special federal permission. That historical record flips the burden back onto the ATF to prove a longstanding tradition of regulation that simply does not exist. If the court agrees, the ripple effects could dismantle not only the NFA’s registration requirements but also the regulatory architecture that has chilled innovation in suppressors, short-barreled firearms, and other configurations Americans increasingly want for home defense and hearing protection. For the broader 2A community, the case is a reminder that victories at the Supreme Court mean little if lower courts continue to treat the NFA as an untouchable relic. A win here would validate the post-Bruen strategy of bringing focused challenges against specific regulatory regimes rather than waiting for another blockbuster Heller-style decision. It would also hand the industry and individual owners a practical tool—removing the tax and paperwork that currently price many citizens out of safer, quieter firearm options. Whether the district court takes the invitation or punts to the Supreme Court, the filing itself signals that the NFA’s days of operating in constitutional limbo may finally be numbered.

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What makes the brief especially sharp is its refusal to accept the government’s favorite fallback: that “sensitive” or “unusual” weapons fall outside the Second Amendment’s plain text. Instead, FPC marshals historical evidence showing that short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and suppressors were in civilian hands at the Founding and throughout the 19th century without special federal permission. That historical record flips the burden back onto the ATF to prove a longstanding tradition of regulation that simply does not exist. If the court agrees, the ripple effects could dismantle not only the NFA’s registration requirements but also the regulatory architecture that has chilled innovation in suppressors, short-barreled firearms, and other configurations Americans increasingly want for home defense and hearing protection.

For the broader 2A community, the case is a reminder that victories at the Supreme Court mean little if lower courts continue to treat the NFA as an untouchable relic. A win here would validate the post-Bruen strategy of bringing focused challenges against specific regulatory regimes rather than waiting for another blockbuster Heller-style decision. It would also hand the industry and individual owners a practical tool—removing the tax and paperwork that currently price many citizens out of safer, quieter firearm options. Whether the district court takes the invitation or punts to the Supreme Court, the filing itself signals that the NFA’s days of operating in constitutional limbo may finally be numbered.

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