A Bold First Step in Dismantling the National Firearms Act
President Trump and GOP lawmakers have every reason to celebrate a bold and historic moment for the Trump administration with the recent passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – a new law that, among other things, reduces taxes for law-abiding gun owners.
In the original version of President Trump’s bill, GOP lawmakers and the White House strategically focused on the National Firearms Act (NFA), with the goal of eliminating many of the NFA’s burdensome requirements. That language would have removed an onerous $200 federal excise tax, and the needless registry and paperwork currently imposed on short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), firearm suppressors, and “any other weapons” (AOWs) defined within the NFA.
Yet this original language, which we actively supported, was stricken by a Harry Reid-appointed Senate parliamentarian who allegedly applied what’s known as the “Byrd Rule” in evaluating the NFA-related language in the Senate reconciliation package. The “Byrd test” is based upon factors including whether the provision would increase or decrease revenues, and whether the change in revenue would be “merely incidental” to the other alterations that the provision would make to public law.
Considering the NFA was passed as a taxation scheme by Congress and upheld as such by the U.S. Supreme Court, the parliamentarian’s ruling had the hallmarks of political activism designed to thwart the president’s and GOP’s efforts to restore gun rights. While we strongly disagreed with the ruling of the parliamentarian, we were not going to allow an unaccountable bureaucrat to have the last word. NRA therefore worked with House and Senate Leadership to revise language in the legislation that, while less comprehensive than what was originally envisioned, curtailed any opportunities for political gamesmanship under the Byrd test. The end result was legislation that eliminated the unconstitutional, highly punitive $200 tax on short-barreled firearms, suppressors, and other items.
That provision is certainly not perfect, in that it leaves intact the burdensome and intrusive administrative and registration requirements. But, it represents the biggest blow to the National Firearms Act since its creation nearly a century ago and takes a bold step to reduce unconstitutional financial hardships imposed on lawful gun owners. More importantly, this new law sets the stage for a robust fight in the courts to permanently eliminate the NFA.
Since the law zeros out taxes on the sale/transfer of short-barreled firearms, suppressors, and other items, the door is now open to wage a significant legal challenge to the continued existence of the NFA. Precedent supports a challenge arguing that, because the NFA no longer imposes a tax on certain regulated firearms, its constitutional justification as an exercise of Congress’s taxing power has been invalidated. And if it is determined in court that the reason the NFA exists as a taxing authority is now dissolved, then its days are numbered.
This is why the NRA has joined with several other organizations, including the American Suppressor Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Second Amendment Foundation, to support a legal challenge that could finally put an end to the NFA and its infringement on your Second Amendment rights. Other organizations are filing similar lawsuits. Our focus now shifts to continuing the fight to fully eliminate the NFA and remove other unconstitutional gun laws. The NRA remains dedicated to preserving and expanding the rights of law-abiding gun owners as we utilize every tool at our disposal to do so on Capitol Hill, in state legislatures, and in courthouses across the nation.
