Rep. Clyde Leads GA GOP Delegation in Urging Attorney General Carr to Clarify Georgia Law Following Historic NFA Court Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-09) led seven of his Georgia Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr urging him to issue a legal opinion clarifying a discrepancy in Georgia law that could prevent law-abiding Georgians from fully exercising their recently restored Second Amendment rights following the landmark ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF (consolidated with Jensen v. ATF).

The lawmakers open by highlighting Attorney General Carr's decision to have the State of Georgia join as a plaintiff in the case that helped deliver the most significant Second Amendment restoration in more than a century.

"We congratulate you on your win in having the State of Georgia join as a plaintiff in the Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF case, in which the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled on August 5th, 2026 that the National Firearms Act (NFA) registration and transfer requirements are unconstitutional because it cannot survive the elimination of the underlying taxes. Congressional efforts to eliminate those taxes, combined with this court ruling, reflect the greatest restoration of Georgians' Second Amendment rights in over 100 years."

However, Rep. Clyde and his colleagues explain that Georgia's current criminal code prevents Georgians from freely and fully exercising their recently restored Second Amendment liberties.

"Georgia's criminal code generally prohibits possession of short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles, machine guns, and silencers. That prohibition does not apply, however, to a person 'who is authorized to possess the same because he has registered the sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle, machine gun, dangerous weapon, or silencer in accordance with the dictates of the National Firearms Act.' Now that NFA registration is no longer required and, under the court's ruling, may no longer lawfully be demanded of Georgians covered by the injunction, this provision no longer maps cleanly onto federal law. Read literally, it could be misunderstood to condition Georgia's exemption on an act of federal registration that a covered person is no longer required, or even permitted, to complete. This ambiguity has deterred Georgians, who are in full compliance with all applicable federal law, from fully exercising their Second Amendment rights, out of a well-founded fear that doing so could place them in violation of Georgia's criminal code."

Therefore, Rep. Clyde and his colleagues urge Attorney General Carr to issue clear guidance on the matter to ensure Georgians can fully enjoy their Second Amendment freedoms as the Founders intended.

"Georgia gun owners and purchasers need guidance and clarity from your office to be able to fully celebrate this tremendous Second Amendment victory. We thank you again for your leadership in securing this outcome for the Peach State, and we look forward to working with you to ensure this historic restoration of Americans' Second Amendment freedoms is properly applied to our fellow Georgians."

Read the full letter HERE.

Cosigners include Representatives Rick Allen (GA-12), Buddy Carter (GA-01), Mike Collins (GA-10), Clay Fuller (GA-14), Brian Jack (GA-03), Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), and Rich McCormick (GA-07).

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 led Republican lawmakers in urging the DOJ to adopt this congressional intent in all litigation (letters to the-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.

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. 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.

Following this victorious court decision, Congressman Clyde led nearly 50 of his House and Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche urging the DOJ to decline any appeal of the historic ruling, as well as to apply and set it nationwide through official rulemaking.