Leading 2A Groups File Lawsuit
Challenging Constitutionality of the NFA

The National Rifle Association (NRA), American Suppressor Association (ASA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Prime Protection STL Tactical Boutique, and two members of the organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The case, Brown v. ATF, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Until President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), the NFA established a $200 tax and tax-enforcement registration regime on certain classes of firearms, including suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and NFA-defined "any other weapons." 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 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. …