San Angelo Court Rules in Favor of Gun Rights Advocates

SAN ANGELO, TX — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that registration and approval requirements under the National Firearms Act for suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns are unconstitutional. 

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix issued the decision in San Angelo. The ruling is stayed for seven days and is expected to be appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Hendrix wrote that Congress in 2025 eliminated the NFA's transfer and making taxes for short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles, silencers and certain miscellaneous firearms. Because the law no longer generates revenue from those untaxed items, its regulatory provisions cannot be justified under Congress’s taxing power, he said. The text, structure and history of the NFA show no other constitutional power was invoked for the challenged rules, he added, so they must be enjoined as exceeding Congress’s enumerated powers. 

The case, Silencer Shop Foundation v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was filed last July by gun rights groups and a coalition of 15 states, including Texas. 

Attorney Richard Hayes of Armed Attorneys, a self-defense legal protection program, said the ruling correctly recognizes that the registration and transfer requirements lost their constitutional basis once the tax was removed. 

“For gun owners, this decision marks an important step toward reducing federal barriers to lawful ownership of these firearms,” Hayes said. “Because the court’s injunction is temporarily stayed, we will continue monitoring developments closely as the case proceeds.”

Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, a plaintiff in the case, said the decision affirms that the 1934 National Firearms Act and its federal gun registry are unconstitutional. Johnston noted that Gun Owners of America worked with Congress and President Trump last year to eliminate the nearly 100-year-old tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms. 

The National Rifle Association called the ruling another major victory for the organization and law-abiding gun owners. 

A group of local governments, including Harris County in Texas, filed an amicus brief in December urging the court to uphold the provisions. Then-Harris County attorney Christian Menefee, who has since been elected to Congress, said the case concerns basic safety measures that keep dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands. 

“There is nothing radical about requiring safeguards for weapons that are designed with concealability or silence in mind,” Menefee said. “There is nothing un-American about regulations that ensure guns don’t end up with dangerous people and that hold manufacturers accountable when they are making weapons. For decades, these laws have helped local governments protect residents and respond to gun crimes.”

Last year, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1596, which eliminated state prohibitions on short-barrel firearms.