Gun Prohibitionists Siding with DOJ on NFA Registration

“Everytown, Giffords, & Brady just joined forces with @AGPamBondi & @theJusticeDept  to DEFEND national gun registration & fight against our Big Beautiful Lawsuit,” Gun Owners of America posted on X along with a screenshot of an amicus brief.

The GOA-backed case is Silencer Shop Foundation et al. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives et al., a complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Norther District of Texas, asking the court  to: “Declare that the NFA’s registration and transfer requirements pertaining to untaxed firearms exceed Congress’s enumerated powers; [and to] “Enjoin Defendants … from implementing, enforcing, or otherwise acting under the authority of the NFA with respect to untaxed firearms…”

Basically, now that there’s no tax on them, there’s no point nor lawful power to require their registration. That’s apparently obvious to all Second Amendment supporters except the Justice Department under Pam Bondi, and a blatant reneging of her pledge for “Department of Justice to use its full might to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”

DOJ’s handling of Second Amendment matters can best be described as bipolar, a point made here before on Firearms News.

There are “highs” making it seem like the Second Amendment is truly the priority the Donald Trump administration promised it would be, with the formation of a Second Amendment Task Force, filing briefs against  bans on so-called “assault weapons” and standard capacity magazines, repealing “zero tolerance” of minor FFL errors, reviewing rules including “engaged in business” restrictions, supporting challenges to Hawaii’s restrictive carry laws, investigating “pattern or practice” by the Los Angeles County Sheriff for “slow walking” concealed carry permits, working on rights restoration and working to defund grants and foreign aid for gun control advocacy groups.

Interspersed with those positive moves are the lows, with gun owner elation turning to confusion, a sense of betrayal, and anger seeing DOJ using its “full might” to defend existing infringements, and in some instances imposing new ones.  

As for NFA registration requirements, Harmeet Dhillon, the AAG heading Justice’s Civil Rights Division, has washed her hands of the matter telling gun owners “Don’t like bad gun laws? Tell Congress!” Using that rationale, draconian infringements in all “blue states” will stand until such time as a majority of Constitutionalists can overturn them, meaning, forever.

And as for restoration of rights, rather than define its criteria so that all affected citizens know what they’ll have to do should they fall into the “prohibited persons” category, DOJ is refusing to  define its position and opposing efforts requesting it.

The latest head-scratcher puzzling gun owner advocates just broke as this article was being finished: In DOJ’s indictment of captured Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro, AG Bondi included charges for “Possession of Machine Guns and Destructive Devices,” leading author and economist Chris Martenson to ask, “On what planet does the US get to charge someone in another country for violating the US's own unconstitutional machine gun laws?”

Unfortunately, questioning actions and decisions made by the Trump administration that negatively affect the right to keep and bear arms results in no shortage of angry responses from MAGA-first gun owners who demand we see, hear and speak no “evil,” that is, criticism. None of this is done to disparage recognized and deservedly lauded good and unprecedented positions being taken by DOJ that would, admittedly, never have happened under any other administration to date.  But that does not require Second Amendment advocates to turn a blind eye to when those positions turn cognitively dissonant.

Without pointing those out, much damage and bad precedent from “friendly fire” can hurt gun owners just as much, if not more, than infringements enacted by flat-out gun prohibitionists. The object here, with mid-terms coming up, is to not douse the fire in the bellies of gun owners so that we see a repeat of Democrat gains like we just witnessed in Virginia. And nothing discourages voters more than a feeling that they’re being played.

About the Author

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. In addition to being a regular featured contributor for Firearms News and AmmoLand Shooting Sports News, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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