The Week the Paperwork Died: ATF Stops Enforcing NFA Registration - Nationwide
2026-10-13 by Brass Kisses
Sheridan, Wyoming - Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Ninety-two years of "mother may I" ended with a letter.
On October 9, the ATF published an open letter to every FFL in the country - effective that same day - announcing it will no longer enforce the National Firearms Act's making, transfer, and registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs. Nationwide. For everybody. (AmmoLand, Oct. 9) No more waiting on a Form 4 like it's a hostage negotiation. Registration is now voluntary - ATF will still stamp your forms if you ask nicely, like a participation trophy.
How did we get here? DOJ let the appeal window on the Jensen / Silencer Shop Foundation injunction close on October 5 without blinking, and ATF decided a court order that covered only plaintiff-org members created - their words - "inequity and disuniformity." So they extended the same treatment to everyone by enforcement discretion. The thread we've tracked since August 18 just reached its ending. Kiss my brass, 1934.
2A WINS
The open letter's actual contents (AmmoLand; TheGunMag legislative report, Oct. 12): no prior approval to make or transfer the four categories; NFA registry now voluntary; interstate transport of an unregistered silencer or AOW no longer enforced; dealer-to-dealer silencer transfers without a Form 3.
Now the fine print - because we tell you the truth, not the hype: the Gun Control Act still fully applies (4473, NICS, prohibited-person rules - all of it). Machine guns and destructive devices are untouched. SBRs/SBSs still ride on a federal dealer-sale hold until ATF builds a non-NFA process, and still need a Form 20 to travel. State law is completely unaffected - if your state bans suppressors, it still bans suppressors. And this is enforcement discretion: a future administration, Congress, or court could flip it back, and unregistered items aren't automatically grandfathered. Celebrate loud, act smart.
Bonus win hiding in the same report: DOJ's September 17 legal opinion says the federal ban on licensed dealers selling handguns to 18-to-20-year-olds may not be enforced. Adults are adults.
2A ISSUES / THREATS
The empire writes back. On October 7, 174 members of Congress signed a letter demanding DOJ rescind that 18-to-20 opinion (TheGunMag, Oct. 12). Their position: adults old enough to carry a rifle for their country are too dangerous to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer with a background check.
Massachusetts, all eyes. The campaign over Chapter 135 is officially underway - voters will decide whether the state's 2024 gun law (assault-weapon restrictions, licensing expansion, "sensitive places") survives. A "no" vote repeals it (TheGunMag, Oct. 12). Watch this one; it's the biggest direct-democracy 2A fight in the country.
2A DEBATES
The great scope irony. On October 8 - one day before ATF went nationwide voluntarily - DOJ filed opposition to nine states' request for a universal injunction in Brown v. ATF, arguing Trump v. CASA bars courts from granting exactly the relief ATF then handed out itself (Bearing Arms, Oct. 8). Judge Hendrix gave DOJ until October 12 to clarify who the Jensen injunction actually covers. The practical question is now mostly moot; the legal one still matters if the politics ever flip.
"Suitability" on trial. Massachusetts' highest court heard argument October 7 in the case of a Holyoke man denied a carry license over decade-old charges that never produced a conviction - a direct test of whether police chiefs can call you "unsuitable" with no objective criteria (Bearing Arms, Oct. 8; USA Carry). Ruling pending.
Quick hits: Colorado's waiting-period ruling from Judge Kane - still pending, fifth straight week. DOJ v. Minnesota - no new docket movement this week.
POSITIVE 2A STORIES
Lytle, Texas (Oct. 4). A homeowner was cornered in his own bedroom - wife and children home - by an intruder who had already wounded a 13-year-old girl at a nearby house before breaking in at random. The homeowner fired. Police say he is not expected to face charges (USA Carry, Oct. 10, via News 4 San Antonio). When seconds counted, the Second Amendment was already in the room.
New Orleans (Oct. 2). Before 7 a.m., a homeowner stopped a break-in in progress. NOPD's conclusion: self-defense, cooperating, no charges (USA Carry, Oct. 11, via WVUE Fox 8).
BRASS KISSES CORNER
Hunting season is here, the best weeks of the year in our corner of the country. Stock your opener week early. We are in discussion with the War Banner Foundation about ways to serve the veteran community together. And circle the calendar: 50 days until the Supreme Court hears the AR-15 cases on December 2. Loud and legal. Find Brass Kisses at a dealer near you on our Where to Buy page.
Kiss My Brass.