State-Level Red Tape On Suppressors Becomes Next Front In Second Amendment War
By Daily Caller News Foundation (/journals/dcnf)
Pro-Second Amendment organizations and lawmakers are eyeing state laws restricting or prohibiting the purchase of suppressors after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released guidance on the application of the National Firearms Act.
The new guidance, released Friday in an open letter and a more detailed “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) document, was sent to all federally-licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) detailing how ATF would implement the federal laws impacted by the ruling, while steering clear of overriding state and local laws and regulations. The Firearms Policy Coalition wrote to Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin, which have laws requiring registration under the NFA for suppressor possession to be legal, asking them not to enforce the provisions
“Must state residents still comply with unconstitutional, enjoined federal regulations to exercise their right to keep and bear the arms under state law?” the letters state. “In order to protect your citizens’ rights, we respectfully request your Office’s attention and offer FPC’s partnership in crafting a prompt resolution.”
“The states that require compliance with this unconstitutional and now-defunct federal scheme should immediately end enforcement and repeal their laws as soon as possible,” FPC President Brandon Combs said in a Friday release. “We certainly hope they will put liberty and their citizens first, and we stand ready and willing to partner with them to protect the rights of their citizens. But no matter what, one way or another, FPC and our Grassroots Army will Fight Forward until people can exercise their rights without fear of arrest or prosecution, full stop.”
United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, handed down his ruling striking down the NFA requirements on Aug. 5 on the grounds that the reducing the transfer tax to $0 in 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act rendered the registration and processing requirements of the NFA unconstitutional.
Republican Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he’d communicated with lawmakers in the Georgia Legislature about the situation, noting the state was one that required compliance with the measures struck down in the Aug. 5 ruling.
“I have mentioned to numerous Georgia legislators here in my home state, they’ve got a little bit of work to do and I think that they’ll be successful in that,” Clyde said during an interview with the DCNF.
FPC Action Foundation President Cody J. Wisniewski urged states to follow ATF’s lead until the provisions were repealed.
“This effort to secure an immediate commitment to non-enforcement is a common-sense way to protect people while these laws work through the legislative process toward what should be their full repeal,” Wisniewski said. “We truly hope this reasonable request will be met with consideration for the People and the rights at stake so that we will not need to litigate.”
“As long as these states are taking meaningful steps to address this issue, we will gladly work with them as partners to address these legal issues,” Wisniewski continued. “But our responsibility is to protect the People and their rights, and we will do what is necessary to fulfill it.”
Georgia, Washington, Ohio and Wisconsin require compliance with NFA provisions to avoid felony charges at the state level for possessing suppressors.
“The Supreme Court biases towards letting the states work out their judgements. Conservative law biases away from federal dictates and towards local intervention,” Randy Miyan of Liberal Gun Owners told the DCNF. “The history of American jurisprudence has never once viewed 2A like activists do in this regard. The bias of a conservative SCOTUS is to stay out of it unless it is critical.”
“So, there’s a general floor for the states…mediocre expectations…and if their ideas get too ridiculous, SCOTUS slaps it down,” Miyan continued. “But the operating engine of American jurisprudence is fine with restrictions related to rights. Always has been. Always will be. And they will always give the states room to try stuff.”
ATF Director Robert Cekada told the DCNF in one of his first interviews Friday regarding the guidance issued to FFLs that the agency went as far as it could and that lawmakers had to address matters.
“The judge, as it relates to other Supreme Court findings, was not able to go beyond his authority. And we’re in the same place,” Cekada said. “ATF and the Department of Justice have very limited authority as it relates to changing, making or repealing federal laws. So we had to work diligently but carefully to come forward with the path. And the path that we’re on today with the long answer I’m giving you is giving the American people equal treatment under the law.”
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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.