Texas Judge: NFA Registry for Suppressors and SBRs Is Unconstitutional

On August 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas entered judgment for plaintiffs in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, consolidated with Jensen v. ATF. The court held that key National Firearms Act registration and approval requirements are unconstitutional as applied to silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and “any other weapons” whose making and transfer taxes Congress reduced to $0 in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — effective January 1, 2026 for those categories.

The opinion’s core is enumerated powers, not Bruen. Hendrix wrote that because today’s NFA generates no revenue from those untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power, and there is “no sign in the NFA’s text, structure, or statutory history that Congress invoked any other power” for the challenged provisions. The court rejected DOJ’s Commerce Clause salvage and occupational-tax backup theories. “The challenged NFA provisions are unconstitutional,” Hendrix said. “Efforts to render the NFA constitutional must come from Congress, not this Court.”

Gun Owners of America reports the injunction permanently blocks ATF from enforcing registration requirements, Form 1 and Form 4 applications, fingerprinting, and photography mandates against the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. SAF’s press release frames Jensen as the first merits win that residual NFA registration for SBRs and suppressors has no constitutional basis once the $200 tax is gone. The court did not decide the separate Second Amendment claims — dismissed without prejudice as unnecessary after the enumerated-powers win.

Limits matter. This is not a nationwide wipe of the NFA for every American: Supreme Court party-relief rules kept the injunction to named plaintiffs and covered members/customers. Machineguns and destructive devices that still carry the $200 tax are untouched. Occupational dealer taxes remain. Hendrix stayed the judgment for seven days so DOJ can seek appellate relief.

Plaintiffs include GOA, Gun Owners Foundation, Silencer Shop Foundation, industry partners, individuals, and a coalition of 15 states. Separate SAF-backed tracks (including Brown v. ATF and Roberts v. ATF) remain in the pipeline. For gun owners outside the plaintiff class, the practical clock is the appeal — not an automatic Form 4 vacation tomorrow.