It’s now been more than two weeks since a federal judge’s order placing a permanent injunction on the National Firearms Act’s registration and markings requirements took effect, but given the limited scope of that injunction there are still a number of outstanding questions about how the Department of Justice and the ATF will be interpreting and enforcing the law going forward.
Rep. Tracey Mann, who represents the First Congressional District of Kansas, has penned a letter to ATF Director Robert Cekada urging him to provide some guidance to gun owners, gun sellers, and federal law enforcement about how the ruling will be implemented and what requirements remain in effect.
The ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF has raised serious questions on the requirements to purchase, manufacture, and own gunsuppressors going forward in NFA regulated states. Our nation’s legal firearm owners, manufacturers, and dealers need clear directionon how to navigate their existing and pending applications, in order to ensure that law-abiding individuals and businesses can betterunderstand and comply with federal law. The uncertainty surrounding the ruling directly affects the individuals involved in NFAregulated transactions, and without clear guidance from the ATF, they will be left to determine for themselves how the ruling affectstheir livelihoods. If the court’s ruling prevents the ATF from enforcing certain NFA registration requirements, the ATF should promptlycommunicate what requirements remain in effect and what procedures are no longer required.I urge the ATF to engage directly with Congress, firearms dealers, manufacturers, and law-abiding gun owners to ensure that the guidanceissued is clear and transparent.
I specifically request clarification regarding the following:
1. What steps the ATF has taken so far to implement the ruling;
2. How the ruling will affect the Form 4 Approval Application processes and approval;
3. What federal NFA registration requirements will remain in effect following the ruling;
4. How the ATF intends to handle existing and pending applications within the agency;
5. What procedures firearm owners, manufacturers, and dealers should follow going forward; and6. A date on which the ATF intends to publish official, finalized guidance.
I figured it would take some time for DOJ and ATF to figure out it’s response to the judge’s decision in Jensen/Silencer Shop, but it’s now been more than three weeks since that decision came down and more than two weeks since the injunction went into effect. That’s time enough to offer at least some guidance to stakeholders beyond the named plaintiffs, but so far there’s been nothing but silence from ATF or its parent agency.
Under the terms of the injunction, the named plaintiffs and their customers/members are covered, and some plaintiffs like Palmetto State Armory have been selling suppressors using nothing more than a Form 4473 and a NICS check. The injunction should also apply to the other NFA items that had their taxes zeroed out by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but to the best of my knowledge no FFL is selling short-barreled rifles or shotguns with a 4473 and a NICS check, even if they’re one of the named plaintiffs in the lawsuits.
The most logical reason for a delay in issuing guidance is that there is still an internal debate within DOJ about whether or not to appeal the district court decision. If DOJ does decide to appeal, then it would most likely continue to enforce the NFA provisions against anyone who was not a plaintiff or its customer. If, on the other hand, Attorney General Todd Blanche chooses to take the loss and not appeal to the Fifth Circuit, I would expect and hope that DOJ and ATF would apply the terms of the injunction to every transfer of a suppressor, short-barreled firearm, and “any other weapon” going forward.
I’m glad to see Rep. Mann is aware of the current confusion and is hoping to get some answers. A similar letter sent by Firearms Policy Coalition to the DOJ has gone unanswered, but maybe a sitting member of Congress will have better luck getting some specifics from the agencies.
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