A Federal Judge Rejects National Firearms Act Regulations, Saying Their Tax Rationale No Longer Applies

When Congress eliminated taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns, it also eliminated the constitutional justification for regulating them.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that some federal gun restrictions can no longer stand after Republicans last year zeroed out the taxes that justified their constitutionality.  Congress relied on its taxing authority to pass the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA), which established a $200 fee to transfer or make certa

A federal judge in Texas on Wednesday ruled that key provisions of a nearly century-old federal firearms law can no longer be enforced, finding that Congress lost the constitutional basis for regulating suppressors and certain short-barreled firearms after eliminating the tax that originally justified the restrictions.

The National Firearms Act mandated a permitting process for short-barreled rifles and shotguns, as well as suppressors. A judge ruled that the provision was unconstitutional.