The gun rights world just got another shot of adrenaline with the filing of the third major lawsuit directly taking aim at the National Firearms Act’s (NFA) burdensome registration requirements—especially now that the infamous $200 transfer tax has been zeroed out by recent court rulings. This latest challenge, building on the momentum from cases like those in Texas and Georgia, argues that without the tax serving as a revenue-generating tax under the original 1934 framework, the ATF’s forced registry of suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and other NFA items is nothing more than an unconstitutional registration scheme masquerading as regulation. It’s a brilliant legal flank: if the tax is gone, what’s left is pure prior restraint on the right to keep and bear arms, violating both the Second Amendment and the Fifth.
For context, the NFA has long been the sacred cow of gun control, upheld by courts as a mere tax even as it funneled millions into bureaucratic red tape rather than Treasury coffers. But post-Bruen, with its demand for historical analogues (good luck finding colonial mandates for engraving your musket with a serial number), these suits are exposing the emperor’s nakedness. The first two lawsuits have already forced the tax’s elimination, creating a domino effect—now this third one ramps up the pressure on registration itself, potentially freeing millions of law-abiding owners from ATF fingerprints, photos, and endless wait times. Imagine suppressors as commonplace as earplugs at the range, or SBRs without the nanny-state oversight.
The implications for the 2A community are massive: victory here could dismantle the NFA brick by brick, paving the way for normalized ownership of innovative firearms tech and striking a blow against the slippery slope of registries that historically precede confiscation. Gun owners should cheer this as a masterclass in strategic litigation—support these plaintiffs, stay vigilant on ATF workaround schemes, and keep the pressure on. If successful, it’s not just a win for NFA items; it’s a blueprint for gutting other federal overreaches. Stay tuned; the range just got a lot more interesting.
