2A Weekly: The Week the NFA Blinked (Aug 18, 2026)
2026-08-18 by Brass Kisses
For 92 years, buying a suppressor meant fingerprints, photographs, a federal registry, and a wait that could outlast your enthusiasm. Last week, for the first time since 1934, Americans walked out with suppressors and no Form 4, no registration, no permission slip. That's not a hot take. That happened. Buckle up - this is your 2A Weekly from the crew at Brass Kisses.
🔥 THE LEAD: History Got Made, Quietly (Pun Intended)
On August 5, Judge Wesley Hendrix of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled in the consolidated Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF and Jensen v. ATF cases that the NFA's registration and approval requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns can't be enforced against the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. The court's brief stay expired August 12, DOJ did not run to an appeals court for an emergency stay, and the injunction took effect August 13 (NRA-ILA's Q\&A explainer).
Then came the part nobody alive had ever seen: Silencer Shop processed the first Form 4-less suppressor transfers in 92 years, and GOA members made their own history with unregistered transfers. Even Bearing Arms called it "a brand new day". Important fine print: this injunction covers the plaintiff organizations' members and customers - it is not yet a nationwide free-for-all, and smart money says you confirm your own situation with your dealer before doing anything (The Reload has been mapping exactly who's covered).
More feel-good from the week: the Derya DY9Z was named the 2026 Empowered 2A Gun of the Year by an award program built around women in the shooting sports. Ohio threw open its public ranges for a free weekend. Payment processor ShotPay pledged a slice of every transaction to the Second Amendment Foundation. And in Warren, Michigan, two armed citizens in two separate incidents on the same day defended themselves and others - prosecutors reviewed both and declined charges. Lawful carry works.
✅ 2A WINS
DOJ opened the door for rights restoration. Attorney General Todd Blanche's office finalized a process for prohibited persons to petition to get their gun rights back - a rigorous, phased application system with presumptive denials for violent felons and sex offenders, and an expected 330,000 applications in year one (TheGunMag coverage). Second chances, with guardrails. We're for it.
DOJ also said the Post Office carry ban contradicts federal law (Bearing Arms; NRA-ILA called the directive a milestone). Mailing a birthday card shouldn't require disarming.
Breaking as we publish: Judge Reed O'Connor ruled the ATF's frame-and-receiver rule unconstitutional in Defense Distributed v. Blanche, permanently enjoining enforcement against the plaintiffs and SAF members for the products at issue. Home gunsmithing is an American tradition older than the country.
⚠️ 2A ISSUES & THREATS
New York's Glock ban is now in federal court - SAF filed suit August 17 (more from Bearing Arms). A Southern California city jacked its concealed-carry application fee up roughly 1000% - pricing a right is denying a right. Connecticut dealers just ate another state-mandated no-sales day. And DOJ has hinted it may still appeal the NFA ruling - the window is open for weeks yet, so nobody should assume this fight is over.
🗣️ 2A DEBATES
The honest question of the week: will the NFA stay blocked? The Reload's analysis calls it "a big, brittle win" - real, historic, and appealable. Meanwhile a Michigan Senate candidate floated replacing the Second Amendment outright - we'd point out the Bill of Rights isn't a suggestion box. And on the data front, the FBI's latest crime report undercuts the "more guns, more crime" theory - record lawful gun ownership, falling violent crime. Correlation isn't causation, but the doom narrative keeps missing its own deadline.
BRASS KISSES CORNER
Suppressors are having their moment, and quiet guns love quiet ammo. Our .300 Blackout 220gr subsonic is new production, built with new brass, new projectiles, new powder and new primers. Veteran-owned, loud brand, quiet rounds. We appreciate the irony. We are in discussion with the War Banner Foundation about ways to serve the veteran community together. Find Brass Kisses at a dealer near you on our Where to Buy page.
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