ATF Rules Face Federal Court Battles

The federal courts are quietly becoming the most important venue for gun rights in 2026—and several ATF challenges moving through the system right now could rewrite the rules on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and private gun sales.

The cases aren't connected by a single event. They're a wave of litigation that picked up momentum after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, which eliminated the $200 NFA tax stamp for most regulated items. That change pulled the legal rug out from under one of the ATF's oldest enforcement frameworks.

The intrigue: The NFA's constitutional foundation has always rested on Congress's taxing power. Now that the tax is gone, plaintiffs in at least one major case argue the registration and transfer requirements fall with it.

• Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF (filed July 4, 2025) makes exactly that argument: no tax, no taxing power, no legal basis for continued NFA regulation of suppressors, SBRs, and Any Other Weapons.
• The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, San Angelo Division (Case No. 6:25-cv-00056-H), with both sides having filed motions for summary judgment.
• Plaintiffs include the Silencer Shop Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Palmetto State Armory, SilencerCo, the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, and more than 15 states.

The DOJ and ATF pushed back in November 2025, arguing the NFA remains valid under the Commerce Clause and that suppressors and SBRs aren't "typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes"—the Bruen-era standard for Second Amendment protection.

A separate challenge targets the ATF's 2024 "Engaged in the Business" rule, which required federal firearms licenses for private sellers who sell even a single firearm for profit. That case—Kansas, Journey, et al. v. Garland et al.—was filed by the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute on behalf of firearms collector and shooting sports instructor Phillip Journey, joined by 21 states.

The big picture: These cases are hitting federal courts at the same time the ATF is trying to present a reformed, more cooperative face.

• The "Engaged in the Business" challengers argue it violates statutory authority, is unconstitutional, and represents arbitrary and capricious rulemaking—three separate theories courts have shown receptivity to post-Bruen and post-Loper Bright.
• After Arkansas was found to lack standing, the case moved to Kansas and is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, with the opening brief filed September 2024 and reply filed December 2024.
• A related appeal is also pending in the Fifth Circuit, where plaintiffs filed an amicus brief in November 2024.

Meanwhile, the ATF has been loosening its own rule on marijuana users and firearms. In January 2026, the agency published an interim final rule revising the definition of "unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance." The old interpretation disqualified anyone who used marijuana even once in the past year from passing a NICS background check. The new rule shifts to a "pattern of use" standard, tied to use without a lawful prescription.

What they're saying: The ATF's own filing acknowledged the change was necessary "to address the harm to constitutional rights caused by erroneously denying a person a firearm." Litigation pressure—including a 2022 lawsuit by then-Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on behalf of medical marijuana patients—contributed to the legal climate that pushed the agency to act. Florida alone has over 1 million medical marijuana patients potentially affected.

On the NFA travel side, the ATF also proposed modernizing the Form 5320.20 process—currently requiring physical mail with ink signatures in duplicate to Martinsburg, West Virginia before transporting an SBR or suppressor across state lines. The proposal would allow electronic submission and auto-generate the required second copy. Public comment closed January 27, 2026.

What to watch: If the Silencer Shop Foundation lawsuit succeeds, all of that paperwork becomes moot. If the "Engaged in the Business" rule gets struck down in the Tenth or Fifth Circuit, private sales between law-abiding citizens return to the legal status they held before April 2024. Both courts could deliver significant rulings before the end of 2026.

Go deeper:

• https://hlli.org/atf-rule-challenge/
• https://orchidadvisors.com/2026-nfa-tax-stamp-changes/
• https://www.nraila.org/articles/20251208/atf-proposes-helpful-reforms-for-travel-with-nfa-items
• https://www.mediaite.com/politics/chair-of-florida-democrats-cheers-move-by-atf-to-loosen-some-gun-restrictions-as-victory-for-second-amendment/