NFA suppressor transfers begin: DOJ declines to appeal injunction

Key points: NFA suppressor transfers begin

• Congress zeroed the NFA making and transfer taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and AOWs, and Judge Hendrix held that with no tax left the registration scheme and its penalties lost their taxing-power foundation.
• The DOJ let the seven-day stay on the final judgment expire without seeking a stay pending appeal, and Rep. Andrew Clyde announced the Trump administration confirmed it will not appeal, so the permanent injunction is now in full force.
• GOA and Silencer Shop transferred suppressors with no Form 4, no prior ATF approval and no entry in the national firearms registration and transfer record, to Brandon Herrera and Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell, both GOA members.
• Both organizations told the DOJ and the ATF in advance exactly what they intended to do once the stay lapsed, and the government neither responded nor moved to stop the transfers.
• The injunction is party-specific rather than nationwide: it reaches the named plaintiffs and people connected to them, including certain customers, members and FFLs, which is why membership in a plaintiff organization is what determines coverage.
• Palmetto State Armory is now selling qualifying suppressors on a 4473 and background check at its South Carolina stores to South Carolina residents, but not at its North Carolina or Georgia locations because state law differs, and it is still not selling factory SBRs outside the traditional process since separate federal restrictions were not enjoined.
• The ruling erases no state law, roughly 15 states keep suppressor or SBR restrictions on top of the outright-ban states, and neither the ATF nor the DOJ has issued any guidance to FFLs or the public on how this operates.

About this Drama and Gripe video

NFA suppressor transfers without a Form 4 are now happening. Judge Hendrix's permanent injunction went into full effect after the DOJ let the seven-day stay lapse without seeking a stay pending appeal, and Rep. Andrew Clyde says the administration confirmed there will be no appeal. Armed Scholar covers the first no-registration suppressor transfers in 90 years, what Palmetto State Armory and Silencer Shop are telling customers, and the two questions a buyer must answer first: whether the party-specific injunction actually covers you, and what your own state law says about suppressors and SBRs.

Transcript: NFA suppressor transfers