Lawsuit Targets NFA Itself

This story developed after publication. On August 5, 2026 a federal court struck down the NFA registration and approval requirements for suppressors, SBRs and SBSs, and the injunction took effect August 13. It reaches only the plaintiffs, their members and their customers. For where the law stands now, read NFA Items in 2026: What Actually Changed.

A federal lawsuit backed by the Firearms Policy Coalition is taking direct aim at the National Firearms Act, not just one provision of it.

State of play: The case, Jensen v. ATF, challenges the NFA's tax-and-register framework as unconstitutional under the Bruen standard. Plaintiffs include individual gun owners, a Texas firearms business, and the Texas State Rifle Association.

Catch up quick:

• The NFA (1934) imposes a $200 tax and federal registration requirement on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, machine guns, and other regulated items
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen (2022) requires gun regulations to be grounded in historical tradition at the founding — not just a government interest in public safety
• FPC has been running a coordinated litigation strategy to dismantle unconstitutional gun laws layer by layer; this is one of the more aggressive swings

The legal question: Bruen shifted the burden to the government to prove a regulation has historical roots. The NFA's registration-and-tax scheme dates to 1934 — nearly 150 years after the founding. The plaintiffs argue there's no founding-era analog for requiring Americans to register arms with the federal government and pay a fee to exercise a constitutional right.

The intrigue: This isn't a challenge to how the ATF enforces the NFA, or a narrow dispute about a specific rule. The lawsuit targets the statute itself. A win wouldn't just trim the NFA — it would gut it.

Yes, but: Federal courts have been cautious about sweeping NFA rulings even post-Bruen. Some judges have upheld NFA provisions by finding historical analogs in colonial-era restrictions on certain weapons. This case will likely face that same headwind, and appeals could take years regardless of the district court outcome.

What to watch: How the district court applies the Bruen two-step to an entire statutory framework rather than a single provision. A favorable ruling here — even a partial one — would set up a circuit split that could force the Supreme Court's hand on NFA constitutionality.