The Department of Justice (DOJ) formally notified Congress Thursday that it will not appeal a ruling that ended paperwork and registration requirements for suppressors.
United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, handed down a ruling striking down the National Firearms Act requirements on Aug. 5 on the grounds that reducing the transfer tax to $0 rendered the registration and processing requirements of the NFA unconstitutional. In a Thursday letter to Congress, Solicitor General D. John Sauer told lawmakers the DOJ would let the ruling stand.
“The Department of Justice has determined not to file an appeal,” Sauer wrote, noting that the court had also foreclosed the use of the commerce clause to justify the registration and paperwork requirements.
The latest figure posted on the agency’s website indicates that as of Sept. 3, over 6.9 million suppressors were registered in accordance with the National Firearms Act. The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported in June that at least 6.1 million suppressors were privately-owned.
After Hendrix’s stay expired on Aug. 12, at least two suppressors have been transferred without going through the ATF’s Form 4 process. DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on June 18 in Comeaux v. United States that suppressors fall under the category of “arms” and are protected under the Second Amendment, but that the NFA operates akin to a “shall issue” concealed-carry permit law, in which authorities must grant the permit if certain criteria are met, and allowed a conviction for possessing an unregistered suppressor to stand.
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