History was made just after the stroke of midnight Thursday morning when a silencer was legally transferred without National Firearms Act (NFA) registration.
Gun Owners of America (GOA), Silencer Shop, congressional candidate Brandon “The AK Guy” Herrera (R), and Texas State Rep. Wes Virdell (R) completed the milestone transaction.
Long fight for many ended with a bang early Thursday morning
This followed the Department of Justice’s much-anticipated indication this week that it will not appeal the decision handed down by Judge James Wesley Hendrix in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF earlier this month. The ruling removed the NFA registration requirement for silencers and other Second Amendment-related items for the plaintiffs.
It’s been over 90 years since such a transaction was completed without the defunct tax stamp and handing over personal information to the de facto federal registry.
Social media quickly exploded with celebratory messages.
Gun control debaters quickly weighed in on the historic transaction
“It’s 12:01 a.m. on August 13, 2026. @TheAKGuy & @WesVirdellTX are purchasing the first unregistered suppressors from @SilencerShop,” GOA posted. “These GOA members will not be filing a Form 4 or complying with the other enjoined provisions of the National Firearms Act.”
Gun rights advocates anxiously awaited the deadline, but one prominent Second Amendment leader, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), leaked on Wednesday that he received assurances that the DOJ would not appeal.
“BREAKING: I’ve received confirmation from the Trump Administration that the DOJ will NOT appeal our historic court victory against the NFA,” the congressman declared in an X post.
Clyde went on to thank the White House and newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche “for delivering the most significant Second Amendment win in OVER 90 YEARS!”
To be clear, the DOJ still has nearly seven weeks to appeal the ruling, though Clyde’s revelation suggests that is unlikely.
Judge Hendrix triggered the long-overdue victory with his August 5 ruling, though he issued a seven-day stay to give the DOJ time to file an appeal. That never materialized as Second Amendment supporters marshaled their forces and urged the administration to let the NFA-mandated registration die a natural death.
On January 1, 2026, the hated tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and other items under the NFA’s purview ended. 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill did away with the requirement, and the change took effect on New Year’s Day.
With the $200 tax gone, many argued that the registration requirements it was based on should also disappear. These gun-related goods understandably soared in popularity this year.
However, law-abiding citizens who rushed to buy silencers still had to submit their personal data and fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). For the plaintiffs, including GOA members and Silencer Shop customers, that mandate is no more.
DOJ officials initially responded to the suit to eradicate registration by asserting that the NFA “falls within Congress’s constitutional authority under Congress’s taxing power, the Commerce Clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause.”
Judge Hendrix rejected this flawed reasoning, noting that the tax’s elimination removed legislative authority to force the shooting public to hand over their vital information.
Predicting howls of protest from anti-gun radicals is like suggesting a person standing in the path of a tidal wave may soon experience moisture.
Giffords on Thursday blasted the progress, claiming that the DOJ “just failed to defend nearly 100 years of safety protections on silencers, short-barreled rifles, and shotguns. DOJ could have fought to keep the safeguards in place. Instead, it gave gun industry CEOs exactly what they wanted.”
Brady United also blew a gasket, slamming the government’s decision in an X post.
“The DOJ failed to protect common-sense regulations on silencers, short-barreled rifles, and other uniquely dangerous firearms and devices that have been in place since 1934!” the outfit said. “Our electeds are supposed to serve the American people, not the gun industry.”
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