Daines Applauds Court Ruling to Protect Second Amendment Rights, Eliminate Unconstitutional Firearm Registration Requirement

• August 5, 2026

Daines Led Provision in Working Families Tax Cut to Eliminate NFA Excise Tax

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Steve Daines today applauded a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that struck down the National Firearm Act's registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and short-barreled rifles (SBRs).

"Today's decision is a victory for the Second Amendment. Eliminating the NFA excise tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns was one of my biggest priorities in the Working Families Tax Cuts that President Trump signed into law last year. I'm glad to see the courts strike down the remaining unconstitutional registration requirements and recognize Congress' intent to fully eliminate these NFA provisions," said Daines.

Background:

Daines has been leading efforts to eliminate the NFA's $200 excise tax since 2024- read the release HERE. In December 2025 Daines led a letter with Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-09) to the U.S. Department of Justice urging them to end their defense of the NFA registration requirements in court- read it HERE.

Daines led the charge to include this provision in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in July 2025. Following the bill's passage, Second Amendment groups sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), arguing that federal government lost its constitutional justification for maintaining the NFA registration requirements for suppressors, SBRs, and SBSs after Congress passed Daines' provision zeroing out the $200 NFA excise tax on those items.

Today's court decision held that the NFA registration scheme for suppressors, SBSs, and SBRs is unconstitutional as applied to firearms Congress no longer taxes.

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