No more paperwork for silencers — at least for now

Can you buy a silencer without registering it now? For some gun owners, yes — at least for now.

A federal judge in Texas ruled Wednesday that major registration requirements under the 1934 National Firearms Act are unconstitutional, a decision that could eliminate paperwork needed to buy or transfer silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns.

Judge Hendrix said the requirements lost their legal footing after Congress eliminated the tax tied to them in President Trump’s 2025 tax and spending law. Lawmakers had said the registrations, which require fingerprints, birth dates and gun descriptions submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were needed to collect the tax. Judge Hendrix said no tax means no need for the paperwork.

The ruling doesn’t apply to everyone, though. It’s limited to plaintiffs in the case — gun-rights groups, their members and customers, and 15 Republican-led states. Judge Hendrix also put a seven-day hold on the ruling to allow time for an appeal, and machine guns aren’t affected.

Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, called it “a massive win.” Adam Skaggs of Giffords Law Center, which supports gun control, called it “a dangerous step backward for public safety.”

Read more:

• National Firearms Act no longer applies to silencers, judge rules

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