The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and several partner organizations have filed a response brief in their ongoing legal challenge to the National Firearms Act (NFA) registration system. The brief, submitted on January 21 to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, opposes the government’s request for summary judgment in the case Brown v. ATF.
The NFA, until changes introduced by President Trump through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, imposed a $200 tax and required registration of certain firearms such as silencers, short-barreled firearms, and “any other weapons.” SAF argues that with the tax provision removed by recent legislation, Congress no longer has a constitutional basis for maintaining these registration requirements.
Bill Sack, SAF Director of Legal Operations, stated: “The passage of the Big Beautiful Bill kicked the already questionable constitutional authority for the NFA right out from under the ATF. With its actual purported authority now eliminated, the government has resorted to borrowing taxation authority from elsewhere in the statute, or entirely different constitutional authority rarely asserted to justify the NFA. Today’s brief explains exactly why neither tactic is persuasive.”
The lawsuit includes several groups as plaintiffs alongside SAF: American Suppressor Association, National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, Prime Protection STL Tactical Boutique and two individual citizens.
Alan M. Gottlieb, founder and Executive Vice President of SAF said: “For the second time this week SAF and its partners have filed opposition briefs in response to the government’s insistence on defending the NFA. We’re better situated now than we have been in almost 90 years to relegate significant chunks of the unconstitutional NFA to the dustbin of history. Today’s brief is a major step toward that goal.”
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots group based in Ohio that focuses on protecting firearm rights and providing updates on related laws and political developments (official website). The organization also delivers information about gun rights legislation and training events (official website).
Republished with permission from Second Amendment Foundation.
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