DOJ Declines Appeal of Ruling Ending Firearm Permit Requirements

The United States Department of Justice declined to appeal a federal court ruling that dismantled longstanding permitting and registration requirements for suppressors and short-barreled rifles and shotguns under the National Firearms Act of 1934. The ruling, issued by Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, took effect at 12:01 a.m. on August 14, 2026.

Judge Hendrix declared the mandated registration process unconstitutional because the legal foundation for the bureaucracy—a $200 federal tax—had been eliminated. This tax was removed via the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, legislation authored by Representative Jason Smith and signed into law by President Donald Trump. The court found that without the revenue-generating tax, the federal government no longer had the justification for requiring registration paperwork, fingerprinting, and record-keeping for these specific items.

Attorney General Todd Blanche faced pressure from gun rights groups and Republican lawmakers to allow the ruling to stand. While the Department of Justice initially had one week to petition a federal appeals court to intervene, it ultimately chose not to do so. Despite this change, regulations on machine guns remain in effect, and buyers must still pass standard background checks and comply with state-level bans in jurisdictions such as New York and California.