Four large Second Amendment groups have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act.

The case, Brown v. ATF, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on Aug. 1, and counts the American Suppressor Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, National Rifle Association, and Second Amendment Foundation as plaintiffs. The gun rights organizations are joined by a St. Louis gun shop – Prime Protection STL Tactical Boutique – and two individuals, Chris Brown and Allen Mayville. The defendants include the ATF and the U.S. Department of Justice, along with their heads.

The case challenges the circa-1934 NFA on two fronts: that Congress exceeded its mandate in passing it in the first place and that the Act violates the right to keep and bear arms as protected under the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

"The National Firearms Act isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s a tyrannical abomination," said FPC President Brandon Combs in an email to Guns.com. "Not only does the NFA violate your Second Amendment rights, but Congress never had the lawful authority to pass it in the first place. That makes it a double abuse of power, violating both the right to keep and bear arms and the hard limits the Constitution places on the federal government. We’re proud to fight alongside our allies to end this corrupt, immoral law so peaceable Americans can exercise their rights when, where, and how they choose."
 

The 31-page complaint contends there is no historical tradition supporting the NFA regulatory scheme and that a 1937 case only upheld the Act as an exercise of Congress's taxing power. Now, with the transfer taxes on suppressors and short-barreled firearms sliced to $0 as of January 2026, the comprehensive registration process to make, transfer, receive, or possess such firearms is groundless.

The plaintiffs are asking for a permanent injunction against the federal government when it comes to enforcing the regulations and requirements of the NFA on these now untaxed items.

"The National Firearms Act's registration scheme only exists to ensure that the tax on NFA firearms was paid,” said Adam Kraut, SAF's Executive Director. "With Congress removing the tax on silencers, short-barreled firearms, and ‘any other weapons,’ the continued inclusion of these items in the NFA serves no purpose, except continuing to retain an impermissible hurdle to the exercise of one’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We look forward to relegating this unconstitutional law to the history books."

Banner image: A gun wall in SilencerCo's firearm library. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)