by Brian McCombie - Tuesday, August 12, 2025
When he signed into law the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) in July 2025, President Donald Trump actually provided a real opportunity for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and others to challenge the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). If the challenge is upheld, suppressors and other current NFA items will be even easier to acquire and less expensive to purchase for hunters and recreational shooters.
That NFA challenge is the case Brown v. ATF, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Aug. 1, 2025. The suit was brought by the NRA, the American Suppressor Association (ASA), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Prime Protection STL Tactical Boutique and two members of the organizations.
One section of the OBBB removed the $200 NFA excise tax that previously was required from anyone buying a suppressor, a short-barrel rifle, a short-barrel shotgun and “any other weapons.” The legality of the NFA was challenged in the past, but the Supreme Court held that the NFA was a tax measure and therefore legal under the powers granted to Congress.
As an NRA-ILA press release noted, “With the elimination of this excise tax in the OBBB, the joint complaint alleges that the NFA registration regime is no longer justifiable as an exercise of Congress’s taxing power, nor any other Article I power.”
The press released added, “The lawsuit also asserts that the NFA’s registration regime for suppressors and short-barreled rifles violates the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court has established that any regulation on arms-bearing conduct must be consistent with our nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The complaint argues that there is no tradition that supports the NFA’s registration regime for protected arms such as suppressors and short-barreled rifles.”
The NFA requires an individual who wants to purchase NFA-regulated firearms and devices to provide their name, home address, photograph, date of birth, demographic information, fingerprints and a detailed description of the firearm or device, plus the number of NFA items purchased and their physical location.
In other words? A registry.
“The Constitution grants Congress only limited powers—none of which authorize the registration of privately owned firearms,” said Doug Hamlin, NRA Executive Vice President and CEO. “In fact, as we expect the courts to recognize in our case, the Second Amendment forbids it. This infringement of individual rights has gone on far too long.”
“The National Firearms Act has infringed on law-abiding Americans’ right to keep and bear arms for nearly a century,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. “Congress took a major step by eliminating the NFA tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms through the OBBB, and we’re proud to work alongside other leading Second Amendment organizations to finish the job.”
Suppressors are especially in demand by American hunters and recreational shooters as they provide hearing protection from the muzzle blast of firearms. Suppressors also reduce recoil and make it easier for hunters and other shooters to communicate with each other while in the field.
Suppressor popularity is surging, too. A study funded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation revealed that of the 3.14 million suppressors owned by individuals by the end of 2024, 80 percent were registered within the last five years.
The study also noted that the growth rate in suppressor registrations from 2020 to 2024 was an amazing 265-percent.
“The National Firearms Act has been a weight around the neck of law-abiding gun owners for nearly a century,” said Knox Williams, President and Executive Director of the ASA. “With the elimination of the excise tax … through the One Big Beautiful Bill, our lawsuit challenges the NFA as an unconstitutional registry of now untaxed firearms. Common sense and the law are on our side, and we look forward to fighting on behalf of all Americans in Federal Court.”