Texas Judge Undercuts National Firearms Act Permits After Tax Repeal
Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a federal judge in Texas, ruled on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, that National Firearms Act permitting rules for short-barreled guns and suppressors are unconstitutional, potentially nullifying federal permit and registration requirements.[1]
Hendrix said that, absent the underlying $200 tax Congress removed, lawmakers lack a valid basis to impose the act's strict permit and registration requirements on those weapons and accessories.[1] He stayed his ruling for one week to allow the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Department of Justice to file an appeal.[1] The Justice Department had not said by publication whether it would appeal.[1]
Congress removed the underlying $200 tax, a change Hendrix said stripped Congress of the statutory hook for those requirements.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Wednesday, August 5, 2026, Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled that National Firearms Act permitting rules for short-barreled guns and suppressors are unconstitutional because Congress removed the underlying $200 tax.
- The decision concludes that, absent the tax, Congress lacks a valid basis to impose the act's strict permit and registration requirements on those weapons and accessories.
- Hendrix stayed his ruling for one week to allow the ATF and Justice Department to file an appeal, and DOJ had not stated its plans as of the article's publication.
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