ST. LOUIS — Today, the Firearms Policy Coalition announced a major new lawsuit, Brown v. ATF, challenging the federal National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. FPC is joined in the case by two individuals and one retailer, as well as the American Suppressor Association, National Rifle Association, and Second Amendment Foundation. Key case documents for the lawsuit are available at firearmspolicy.org/brown.
This important case challenges the NFA on two separate grounds. First, the plaintiffs claim, the NFA exceeds the limited, enumerated powers granted to Congress in Article I of the Constitution. Moreover, they say, the NFA also violates the right to keep and bear arms protected under the Second Amendment. The challengers are seeking a declaratory judgment and an injunction against the government’s enforcement of the NFA with respect to some NFA firearms which are now untaxed due to the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Brown closely follows FPC’s recently filed challenge to New Jersey’s ban on so-called “short-barreled rifles” in FPC v. Platkin, as well as its challenge to the NFA’s suppressor regulations in United States v. Peterson, and the end of the Biden ATF pistol brace ban rule that was vacated through FPC’s Mock v. Garland case.
“The National Firearms Act isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s a tyrannical abomination,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs. “Not only does the NFA violate your Second Amendment rights, but Congress never had the lawful authority to pass it in the first place. Read more