A federal court decision and subsequent ATF guidance pulled some items out from under National Firearms Act requirements this fall. Now Democratic gains in Congress could set the stage to bring those rules back, according to a report carried by The Western Journal and the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF), and an interview with a gun-rights attorney cited in that report.
What the court and ATF did
The report says United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas ruled on Aug. 5 that NFA registration and processing requirements were unconstitutional after Congress reduced the transfer tax to $0 in 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Following that, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued Oct. 9 guidance on items “no longer covered” under the NFA, while noting state and local rules were unchanged.
In an October interview with the DCNF, Second Amendment Foundation Director of Legal Research and Education Konstadinos Moros said, “This district court ruled that under the taxing power, the laws, the registration requirements are unconstitutional. DOJ did not appeal. So because of that, and they didn’t appeal and they’ve announced that they’re basically not going to enforce this as per the ATF guidance.”
Why the election matters
The report states that on Tuesday, multiple pro-Second Amendment Republicans lost House and Senate races to Democrats in the South and Midwest, including flips of open seats in Iowa, North Carolina and Texas, and defeats of incumbents in Ohio, Kansas and South Carolina. The article says Democrats will take control of Congress in January and describes Democrats as generally supportive of gun control.
The $0 tax—and the $4,700 push
According to the report, during debate over a funding bill in January, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut introduced amendment SA 4159 to restore the NFA transfer tax and raise it to over $4,700 per item to reflect inflation since 1934. The article also notes that, earlier, the Senate parliamentarian struck language that would have removed certain items from the NFA during a July 2025 reconciliation bill, while Congress reduced the taxes to $0. Gun-rights groups filed lawsuits challenging the law’s applicability shortly after it was signed, the report says.
What could happen next
Moros told the DCNF that NFA regulations could return if Congress reinstates the transfer tax or if a future administration directs the ATF to resume enforcement and seeks to overturn the district court ruling. “If President Newsom or whoever takes office in 2029, he could tell ATF, ‘Nope, get back to enforcing this. We’re going to try and overturn this district court ruling,’” Moros said. He added that enforcement in another jurisdiction could restart a broader legal fight.
As for owners of suppressors, short-barreled rifles and other affected items, Moros said he could only speculate: “If I had to predict, there probably would be some sort of grace period, like they’d give everyone 90 days to get them registered, you know, before they resumed enforcement.”
This report hinges on the cited court ruling, the ATF’s guidance language, and the uncertain direction of the next Congress and administration. Human review is required.
