Federal judge strikes down 92-year-old restriction on sale of silencers

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 14, 2026

A federal judge on Aug. 5 struck down major federal restrictions on the sale and transfer of silencers (suppressors).

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Lubbock, Texas, ruled that the federal registration and approval requirements under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 are unconstitutional for silencers, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns.

The Department of Justice declined to seek an emergency stay, allowing the judge’s injunction to officially take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 13.

In July 2025, President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the NFA’s long-standing $200 making and transfer tax on suppressors down to $0, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Judge Hendrix ruled that because the NFA was historically enacted under Congress’s constitutional taxing power, the government can no longer require complex registration, fingerprinting, or extensive wait times to enforce a tax that generates zero revenue. With no tax to collect, the registration scheme lost its constitutional justification.

“The injunction is limited to covered parties and does not instantly erase every state restriction, but the first unregistered suppressors in 92 years are now in private hands,” The Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft reported on Friday.

According to Gun Owners of America (GOA), two gun owners walked out of Silencer Shop in Leander, Texas, with suppressors without completing the federal registration and approval process in what were the first lawful commercial suppressor transfers without NFA registration in 92 years.

Aidan Johnston, GOA’s director of federal affairs, stated: “Previously, this would have been punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine per violation. So, this was a big federal law. We took a really big bite out of it.”

Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde, who authored the legislation that zeroed out the NFA tax and was present for the historic transfers, confirmed the Justice Department is not expected to appeal the decision. Clyde later announced he had received direct confirmation from the Trump Administration that the DOJ would not challenge the ruling.

“THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP and Attorney General Blanche, for delivering the most significant Second Amendment win in OVER 90 YEARS!” Clyde posted to X.

Freedom Rocks! Until It Is Gone

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