Don’t go out and assemble that SBR yet, though. Judge Hendrix put a seven-day hold on his ruling so the Department of Justice can appeal. And the ruling will only apply to the plaintiffs and their members.
But, here’s the part you might not know: The DOJ doesn’t actually have to defend the NFA. They’re under no obligation at all to appeal the ruling.
Sure, career government lawyers usually file appeals automatically to defend federal laws. They see it as their job. But, the DOJ is part of the executive branch, and President Trump is the guy at the top. He’s the one who signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law that zeroed out the tax in the first place. Just as President Obama chose to have his DOJ decline to defend laws banning gay marriage, Trump can just as easily leave the NFA out in the legal cold and let it starve to death.
All it takes is one phone call to the (acting) Attorney General telling the DOJ to stand down and decline to appeal. In a week, if you’re a member or customer of one of the plaintiffs, you can order a suppressor or build that SBR or SBS. In two months, the ruling will become permanent and future administrations can’t appeal.
You may be thinking about what happens down the road. If the NFA only died because the tax is zero, couldn’t a future anti-gun president just bring it back? Wouldn’t charging even a dollar for transfers raise it from the dead?
Which he then covers.I'm very much hoping for word from our new AG saying "No, we're not going to appeal." Which would both horribly frustrate the usual suspects, and give great relief to many people. We'll see how it goes.
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