FPC asks 15 state attorneys general to immediately stop enforcing laws tied to the now-enjoined federal NFA registration regime and work toward permanent legislative repeal.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 9, 2026) — Following the historic end to the NFA’s unconstitutional federal registration scheme for untaxed firearms and suppressors, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that lawyers for the organization sent letters to the attorneys general of 15 states that still tie the legality of silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, or other covered arms to compliance with the federal National Firearms Act registration process. FPC is asking those states to immediately stop enforcement while lawmakers repeal the laws for good.

The effort follows FPC’s major victory in Silencer Shop/Jensen v. ATF, where the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the federal government could no longer use Congress’s taxing power to sustain the NFA’s making, registration, and transfer requirements for firearms Congress made subject to a $0 tax. The court enjoined enforcement of the challenged provisions as to the plaintiffs and others covered by its judgment.

The basic problem was fatal to the government’s regime: Congress eliminated the tax, and with it the constitutional basis the government had relied on for the machinery built to collect that tax.

That should have been the end of it. But in 15 states, it wasn’t. Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin still have laws that tie the legality of some NFA-classified arms to compliance with federal registration requirements.

For people covered by the Silencer Shop/Jensen injunction or otherwise able to act without federal enforcement under ATF’s new policies, those laws can still require compliance with a federal process the court has enjoined, leaving them unable to fully benefit from the federal victory without risking violation of state law.

“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,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “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.”

FPC’s proposal gives the states a direct path forward: make an immediate commitment to non-enforcement so people are protected now, then work through the legislative process toward full repeal of state laws separately regulating these categories of arms.

For this critically-important effort, FPC retained Holtzman Vogel partner David P. Johnson to lead the attorney-general outreach. Johnson, who focuses on state-attorney-general matters and litigation, was previously the Policy Director and General Counsel to the Republican Attorneys General Association and worked closely with Republican attorneys general and their offices to advance policy priorities.

“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. 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. But our responsibility is to protect the People and their rights, and we will do what is necessary to fulfill it,” said attorney and FPC Action Foundation President Cody J. Wisniewski.

The Federal Fight Is Not Over

Also today, following the federal injunction, ATF announced an important nationwide change in its enforcement position. As a matter of enforcement discretion, ATF will no longer enforce many of the NFA’s making, registration, transfer, possession, and related restrictions for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, silencers, and other covered $0-tax arms—even against people who are not covered by the Silencer Shop/Jensen injunction. In its guidance, ATF also expressly acknowledged the state-law problem, noting that state laws may continue to require federal compliance or registration even where federal enforcement has ceased.

Notably, ATF’s nationwide policy rests on executive enforcement discretion. ATF itself warns that enforcement could resume if circumstances change—including if the Department rescinds the policy, the injunction is overturned or dissolved, or Congress imposes a new tax. Its guidance further states that federal law does not automatically grandfather unregistered arms if enforcement later resumes.

That is why FPC is not leaving the People’s liberty dependent on the discretion of a future administration. Instead, FPC is continuing multiple federal efforts—including Brown v. ATF, which FPC is a party to, and the FPC-backed Roberts v. ATF—to secure durable, nationwide relief from the NFA’s remaining unconstitutional restrictions. Brown and Roberts challenge the NFA under both Congress’s enumerated powers and the Second Amendment.

One Fight. Three Fronts.

FPC’s strategy is straightforward: end the federal regime, eliminate state laws that depend on it, and directly attack state bans on constitutionally protected arms wherever they exist.

At the federal level, FPC is pressing forward toward durable nationwide relief.

At the state level, today’s 15-state initiative attacks laws that still tether the People to the federal NFA registration system.

And where states independently ban the arms themselves, FPC is attacking those prohibitions head-on.

That includes cases like FPC v. Davenport, FPC’s challenge to New Jersey’s ban on short-barreled rifles. The case builds on FPC’s en banc Third Circuit victory in Cheeseman v. Davenport, where the court held New Jersey’s semiautomatic-rifle ban unconstitutional—a decision FPC says also materially strengthens its SBR challenge.

FPC’s Viramontes v. Cook County case is now before the United States Supreme Court, where FPC is challenging a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” Oral argument in the landmark Second Amendment “hardware” case is set for December 2, 2026.

“Jensen is not a one-off lawsuit—it is one part of a broader strategic plan,” Combs said. “That plan has already killed federal NFA registration for these untaxed arms. We are fighting to make that victory permanent and nationwide, and now we are working to eliminate the state laws that try to keep those restrictions alive. At the same time, our arms-ban cases are attacking the bans themselves. FPC and our Grassroots Army will Fight Forward until all of these unconstitutional and immoral restrictions are eliminated throughout the United States.”

FPC thanks its Grassroots Army members and supporters for making this important work possible. Individuals who want to join FPC and support its lawsuits and other programs to restore liberty can join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.

[Representative text of the letter sent by Holtzman Vogel attorneys David Johnson and Daniel Bruce is below:]

Dear [Attorney General]:

We write on behalf of our client, Firearms Policy Coalition (“FPC”), regarding recent federal court developments with significant and immediate implications for firearms law in your State. In Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, No. 6:26-CV-056 (N.D. Tex. Aug. 5, 2026) (consolidated with the FPC-backed Jensen v. ATF, No. 6:26-CV-227), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that various provisions of the National Firearms Act (“NFA”) are unconstitutional because they no longer comport with Congress’s taxing power. This decision has created an urgent legal question for law-abiding firearms owners, firearms manufacturers, and law enforcement officials and legal officers in states, including yours, with laws that condition the legality of certain firearms on compliance with the NFA: Must state residents still comply with unconstitutional, enjoined federal regulations to exercise their right to keep and bear the arms under state law? In order to protect your citizens’ rights, we respectfully request your Office’s attention and offer FPC’s partnership in crafting a prompt resolution.

Background

The NFA, enacted in 1934, imposed a tax on the transfer and making of certain regulated firearms—including silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and “any other weapons.” To facilitate collection of this tax, Congress erected a regulatory framework requiring registration in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, submission of applications with fingerprints and photographs, local law enforcement notification, and prior ATF approval. See 26 U.S.C. §§ 5812(a)–(b), 5822, 5841(a)–(c), (e), 5842(b), 5861(b)–(f), (i); 27 C.F.R. §§ 479.62(a)–(d), 479.84(a)–(d).

On July 4, 2025, Congress enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Pub. L. 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (2025), which, effective January 1, 2026, reduced the federal transfer and making taxes to $0 for silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and “any other weapons.”  Critically, Congress left the NFA’s entire regulatory apparatus—registration, application, approval, and recordkeeping—fully intact despite eliminating the revenue.

On August 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the challenged NFA regulatory provisions are unconstitutional. Because a $0 tax raises no revenue—the “essential feature of any tax”––the regulatory provisions can no longer be sustained under Congress’s taxing power, the sole constitutional basis on which the NFA was enacted. The court entered a party-specific injunction barring the ATF and DOJ from enforcing the challenged provisions (26 U.S.C. §§ 5812(a)–(b), 5822, 5841(a)–(c), (e), 5842(b), 5861(b)–(f), (i); 27 C.F.R. §§ 479.62(a)–(d), 479.84(a)–(d)) against untaxed firearms held by the plaintiffs. Additional challenges are progressing in other circuits. See, e.g., the FPC-backed cases of Brown v. ATF, No. 4:25-CV-1162 (E.D. Mo.) and Roberts v. ATF, No. 2:24-CV-091 (E.D. Ky.).

The Problem

This creates a problem for many states, such as yours, that have enacted firearms statutes that condition the lawful possession, transfer, and/or making of NFA-regulated items on compliance with the federal NFA registration requirements. These provisions make it lawful for a person to possess NFA-regulated items only if that person has complied with the NFA’s registration, application, and approval requirements.

The Silencer Shop Foundation/Jensen decision has fundamentally disrupted this framework. The federal government is prohibited from enforcing the NFA’s registration, application, and approval requirements as to the covered plaintiffs. And the court held that those provisions are facially unconstitutional. Yet your State’s law still requires compliance with those facially unconstitutional federal procedures as a prerequisite to lawful possession under State law.

The Department of Justice recently notified Congress that it does not intend to appeal the decision. Letter from D. John Sauer, Solicitor General, to Sen. Charles Grassley, Chairman, Sen. J. Comm. (Sept. 24, 2026), Silencer Shop Foundation, No. 6:26-CV-056 (ECF No. 145-1). And the trend of litigation nationally suggests other challenges, see Brown, No. 4:25-CV-1162; Roberts, No. 2:24-CV-091, will reach the same or a substantially similar result. Accordingly, this issue is likely to persist until state legislatures act.

The result is an untenable legal limbo. Through no fault of their own, law-abiding citizens face state criminal exposure for possessing items they have a constitutionally protected right to possess and that the federal government is barred from regulating under the current statutory framework. Such uncertainty will chill law-abiding citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms. And worse, it will also inevitably lead to confusion for state and local law enforcement officials who must determine whether to enforce state laws that incorporate unconstitutional federal registration, application, and approval requirements. This would not only put peaceable people at risk, but it would also inevitably lead to the expense of litigating challenges to your State’s laws in civil and criminal cases. Thus, FPC encourages your Office to take action now to begin addressing this critical issue.

Proposed Solutions

FPC respectfully proposes the following two urgent, prioritized solutions to protect citizens’ constitutionally protected rights, liberty, and property:

1. Immediate Non-Enforcement Guidance. We request that your Office immediately cease enforcement of applicable State laws and issue a formal statement, opinion, or memorandum to State and local law enforcement and prosecutors directing them to not enforce your State’s NFA-tethered provisions for possession, making, or transfer of untaxed NFA items—silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and “any other weapons”—without federal registration and approval under the unconstitutional provisions. Such guidance would safeguard citizens’ constitutionally protected rights, provide clarity for law enforcement, avoid the expenditure of State resources on prosecutions premised on State laws tied to unconstitutional federal requirements, reduce your State’s legal exposure, and serve as a prudent interim measure while the State legislature acts. 

2. Permanent Legislative Fix. We further urge your Office to develop an appropriate legislative proposal and work with your State’s Legislature to permanently untether lawful acquisition, possession, use, and disposition of affected arms from the unconstitutional, enjoined federal registration requirements. A full repeal of such State requirements is encouraged to show your State’s commitment to its citizens’ constitutionally protected rights.

* * *

FPC and its counsel stand ready to serve as resources and partners to your Office to address this issue, including analyzing the impact of the unconstitutionality of the NFA’s provisions on your State’s firearms law and providing model statutory language for permanent legislative solutions. Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to your response and to working together in service of the people of your State.

Respectfully,

/s/

David Johnson 

/s/

Daniel Bruce 

About Firearms Policy Coalition

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit membership organization that exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty and eliminate unconstitutional gun control laws. FPC works—and wins—for the People through high-impact strategic litigation, groundbreaking research, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and public engagement. FPC’s legal division, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about how FPC is working—and winning—for the People, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.