Federal Court Rules Key National Firearms Act Restrictions Are Unconstitutional in GOA Lawsuit 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

August 5, 2026 

SAN ANGELO, TX — Gun Owners of America (GOA) and fellow plaintiffs scored a major win today. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that key National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) restrictions are unconstitutional for untaxed firearms and permanently blocked the ATF from enforcing them against the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. 

The lawsuit was brought by GOA, Gun Owners Foundation, Silencer Shop Foundation, Palmetto State Armory, SilencerCo, B&T USA, the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, individual plaintiff Brady Wetz, and a coalition of 15 pro-gun states: Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. 

Judge James Wesley Hendrix held that Congress wiped out the constitutional basis for federal gun registration when it zeroed the transfer and making taxes on NFA items in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. The court rejected the government’s attempt to save the regulations under the Commerce Clause. 

“The challenged NFA provisions are unconstitutional. Congress’s choice to eliminate the transfer and making taxes matters, and the defendants cannot save the NFA’s regulatory scheme by referring to a power that Congress never invoked. Efforts to render the NFA constitutional must come from Congress, not this Court.” — Judge James Wesley Hendrix

The injunction stops the ATF from enforcing federal gun registration requirements, Form 1 and Form 4 applications, fingerprinting, and photography mandates against the protected parties. The court stayed the order for seven days so the Department of Justice can seek appellate review if it chooses to do so. 

Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement: 

“This is a historic victory for the Second Amendment. The federal government keep its registry of guns after Congress has eliminated the gun tax. The court correctly recognized that the ATF cannot continue enforcing the NFA’s unconstitutional restrictions against law-abiding Americans. GOA will never stop fighting to protect the right to keep and bear arms.”

Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs for Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement:   

“Last year, GOA worked with Congress and President Trump to eliminate a nearly 100-year-old tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms. Today’s decision affirms what GOA members have been saying all along: the archaic National Firearms Act of 1934 and its federal gun registry is unconstitutional.”