Rep. Clyde Leads Coalition Urging DOJ to Adopt Historic NFA Court Ruling Nationwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-09) led nearly 50 of his House and Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to decline any appeal of last week's historic ruling against National Firearms Act (NFA) registration for $0 NFA tax firearms, as well as to apply and set it nationwide through official rulemaking.

On August 5th, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas delivered a monumental win to plaintiffs in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF (consolidated with Jensen v. ATF). The landmark ruling struck down NFA registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and any other weapons (AOWs), rightly ruling that these requirements exceed Congress's constitutional authority after Congress eliminated the NFA's transfer and making taxes on those arms.

In response, Rep. Clyde and his colleagues urge the DOJ to not appeal the ruling, which marks the most significant victory for the Second Amendment since the NFA was enacted in 1934.

"We recognize the Department has a seven-day window under the court's order to seek relief at the appellate level, but we urge the Department not to appeal. An appeal would prolong regulatory uncertainty for law-abiding gun owners and businesses and would consume DOJ resources defending a position that this Congress and now a federal district court has said cannot stand. We ask that the Department decline to appeal, to seek rehearing, or to otherwise attempt to cabin or narrow this ruling."

The lawmakers further urge the DOJ to immediately take steps to apply the court's ruling nationwide and make its outcome permanent via rulemaking.

"Immediate application of the ruling nationwide is necessary to avoid the untenable alternative in the interim: a split enforcement regime in which the DOJ applies these requirements to one gun owner while declining to apply them to his neighbor, solely because one person happens to be a customer of Silencer Shop or a member of Gun Owners of America. Administering that kind of regime would require the DOJ and ATF to maintain two parallel tracks for identical conduct depending on the applicant's affiliations. That is not a workable or defensible way to administer a national regulatory program, even for the period before a rule can be finalized."

"The DOJ should initiate rulemaking to formally rescind or amend the challenged regulations as they apply to untaxed firearms. Rulemaking is necessary to make this outcome permanent. We urge you to begin that rulemaking process without delay, so that the immediate, nationwide application of the court's ruling is followed as promptly as the APA allows by a durable regulatory fix that does not depend on the discretion of any particular administration."

Congressman Clyde and his colleagues conclude with a powerful reminder of the DOJ's constitutional obligation to protect the American people's Second Amendment liberties.

"When the DOJ defends unconstitutional gun regulations, then the ATF becomes weaponized against law-abiding Americans and the government betrays its founding purpose. Restoring the Second Amendment is not merely a policy matter - it is a fulfillment of this nation's oldest and most sacred promise to its people."

Read the full letter HERE.

Cosigners include (46) Representatives Brian Babin (TX-36), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Sheri Biggs (SC-03), Lauren Boebert (CO-04), Josh Brecheen (OK-02), Tim Burchett (TN-02), Eric Burlison (MO-07), Kat Cammack (FL-03), Buddy Carter (GA-01), Mike Collins (GA-10), Ben Cline (VA-06), Michael Cloud (TX-27), Eli Crane (AZ-02), Warren Davidson (OH-08), Scott DesJarlais (TN-04), Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Mark Harris (NC-08), Diana Harshbarger (TN-01), Clay Higgins (LA-03), Richard Hudson (NC-09), Wesley Hunt (TX-38), Morgan Luttrell (TX-08), Tom McClintock (CA-05), Mary Miller (IL-15), Riley Moore (WV-02), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Jimmy Patronis (FL-01), Scott Perry (PA-10), Chip Roy (TX-21), Derek Schmidt (KS-02), Pete Sessions (TX-17), Austin Scott (GA-08), Keith Self (TX-03), Victoria Spartz (IN-05), Claudia Tenney (NY-24), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), Randy Weber (TX-14), Bruce Westerman (AR-04), and Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Roger Marshall (R-KS).

"Gun Owners of America worked with Congress and President Trump to eliminate the National Firearms Act tax on suppressors and short barrels-teeing up our constitutional challenge. The court just confirmed what everyone already knew: $0 taxes are invalid and the NFA is unconstitutional! GOA is grateful to Representative Clyde, Senator Daines, and all the Congressmen and Senators who are urging the Department of Justice to restore the Second Amendment by codifying GOA's legal victory against the NFA into ATF regulations," said Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs, Gun Owners of America.

Background

Due to Rep. Clyde's hard-fought efforts, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a provision to zero out the $200 tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms under the draconian NFA, mirroring parts of Clyde's Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act and Constitutional Hearing Protection Act.

However, the burdensome transfer and registration requirements linked to the $0 tax remained - despite the fact that it was Congress's clear intent to repeal NFA registration by eliminating NFA taxation.

Therefore, Rep. Clyde has led Republican lawmakers in urging the DOJ to adopt this congressional intent in all litigation (letters to then-Attorney General Bondi available HERE and HERE). As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, the Congressman has also fought to eliminate NFA registration for suppressors and short-barreled firearms through the annual appropriations process.