Plaintiffs Secure Ruling that NFA Registration Is Unconstitutional

Plaintiffs in Jensen v. ATF secured a ruling freeing them from the National Firearms Act’s registration requirements for suppressors and short barrel rifles.

The individual plaintiffs in the case are John Jensen, Jeremy Neusch, and David Lynn Smith. Groups who are also plaintiffs in the case include the Texas State Rifle Association and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).

The case was filed in October 2025, after President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill succeeded in the removing the $200 federal tax from suppressors and short barrel rifles and shotguns while leaving NFA registration requirements in place.

CCRKBA and others argued that there is no justifiable basis for registration now that the tax is zero.

The ruling was handed down by Judge James Wesley Hendrix in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

In a press release in Breitbart News’ possession CCRKBA noted that Hendrix found the registration scheme “unconstitutional” in the absence of a tax.

CCRKBA chairman Alan Gottlieb commented:

We are delighted with the ruling from Judge Hendrix. With the tax no longer in existence, there was no logical reason for the ATF’s registration requirement to continue. With this victory setting a precedent, we anticipate success in the other cases involving our sister organization, SAF.

The ruling in Jensen v. ATF applies to individual plaintiffs and members of the groups that were plaintiffs as well. Another case was consolidated with Jensen v. ATF and the ruling applies to plaintiffs in that case too.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at [email protected].