October 21, 2026
Winning Back Ground on the Second Amendment
By: Attorney General Raúl Labrador
As a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, it’s always gratifying to share good news about our ongoing fight to preserve one of our most important individual constitutional rights. This month brought significant progress to take back ground for gun owners, lost in 1934 with the National Firearms Act.
Effective October 9th, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a nationwide policy ending tax and registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and certain other regulated items, based on a lawsuit I joined with 14 other state attorneys general. This is a win for gun owners and for everyone who understands that government must operate within its constitutional limits.
In 1934, the National Firearms Act (NFA) required federal registration and approval before certain firearms and devices could be manufactured, sold, or transferred. A tax was established to pay for this registration process. Last year, Congress eliminated the $200 tax on these items through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but the registration and approval requirements remained on the books.
In October 2025, Idaho and 14 other states joined Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, arguing that once the tax was eliminated by Congress, the federal government no longer had the authority to enforce the rest. On August 5, 2026, the court agreed with us. This ruling initially applied only to the named parties in the lawsuit, and when the Department of Justice declined to appeal, the ATF extended that relief nationwide through its new enforcement policy.
For Idahoans, that change removes a sticky layer of bureaucratic red tape. The federal registration, approval, and tax-stamp requirements are no longer being enforced under the current policy. Purchases through licensed dealers still require ATF Form 4473 and a background check, and applicable state and local laws remain in effect. Machine guns and destructive devices remain fully covered by the NFA. Gun owners and dealers should review the ATF’s guidance here before buying, making, or transferring these items, and consult a private attorney with specific questions.
This is a welcome change after more than 90 years, although the National Firearms Act remains law. A future Department of Justice could easily reverse the ATF’s recent policy. If enforcement resumes, the ATF has warned that unregistered items could again carry serious federal penalties. Until Congress acts, the relief gun owners won in this case depends on the instructions the next administration gives its lawyers. I’m urging Congress to make this change permanent and put it beyond the reach of a future administration. Twenty other attorneys general have joined me in that call.
For nearly a century, the federal government has chipped away at the rights of gun owners, and the National Firearms Act was one of its earliest tools. This month, we held Washington to the limits of its own authority. The Constitution gives the federal government specific, limited powers, and when the legal foundation for a federal law disappears, the power to enforce goes with it.
My office has consistently defended the Second Amendment in courts from state gun and magazine bans in California, Maryland, and Illinois, to Hawaii’s unconstitutional concealed carry restrictions. Likewise, I will keep challenging federal actions that exceed the Constitution’s limits so that gun owners in Idaho and across the country can exercise the rights guaranteed to them.
