U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today joined Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-09) in leading a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice urging them to adopt the positions of the drafters of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provision that eliminated the $200 National Firearms Act (NFA) excise tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs) and “any other weapons” (AOWs) and end its support for the unconstitutional NFA registration regime that remains.
“We write to inform the Department of Justice of Congress’s position and intent regarding ongoing litigation challenging the National Firearms Act’s (NFA) registration and transfer requirements for non-taxed NFA firearms, following the enactment of President Trump’s landmark Second Amendment victory in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). In enacting this bill into law, Congress affirmed its position that the taxation and registration provisions of the National Firearms Act are inseparably linked, and it expressed its intent to repeal the NFA’s registration and transfer requirements by eliminating the associated taxes on certain firearms and silencers. In light of the Department’s recent filing opposing this interpretation, we must express our serious concern and disappointment that the Department of Justice has chosen to advance a theory that not only conflicts with Congress’s express intent but also disregards the constitutional structure upon which the NFA has rested since 1934. Therefore, we again urge the Department of Justice to adopt and advance Congress’s stated position in all litigation concerning these provisions, to ensure that congressional intent is accurately represented and upheld before the courts.”
“In fact, when Congress reduced the Obamacare penalty to $0 during President Trump’s first term, the Department of Justice refused to defend the underlying flawed law. The Department is fully empowered to decline to defend statutory provisions that no longer rest on a valid constitutional basis. It has exercised that authority before, and it must do so again here – this time in defense of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
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Read the full letter HERE.
Thanks to Senator Daines’ efforts in the Senate, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act contained a provision that reduced the $200 excise tax on suppressors, SBRs, SBS, and AOWs for the first time ever. By eliminating the NFA tax on certain firearms, it was the intent of those who worked to include the provision to repeal the transfer and registration requirements under the NFA for these firearms as well. Despite this intent, the DOJ has chosen to defend the constitutionality of the zero-dollar tax in court.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins