NFA Ruling Update
What the August 5 Court Decision Means for Your Order
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To our customers,
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You may have seen the news about the August 5 federal court ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF. It is an important ruling, but it is not a full repeal of the National Firearms Act, and it does not mean every NFA transfer can immediately skip the normal process.
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Here is the plain English version.
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Current Status
The court paused its order for seven days to give the government time to seek further relief. Those seven days have passed, but they still have time to file an appeal. As of this writing, they have not filed that appeal. This status can change quickly, and we are continuing to check for guidance from our counsel and the ATF. Our transfer process is unchanged until we have clear written guidance.
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What Happened
What the Court Decided
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A federal judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled that, after Congress set the federal making and transfer tax at $0 for suppressors, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, and certain other NFA firearms, the federal government could not continue enforcing several NFA registration and approval requirements against the parties covered by the case. The court's order includes Form 1 and Form 4 requirements, registration requirements, and certain related enforcement provisions.
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The ruling is limited. It is not a nationwide order, and it does not remove the NFA from federal law for everyone. It also does not apply to machine guns or destructive devices.
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The federal government still has time to appeal. Because the United States is a party, its normal deadline to file a notice of appeal is October 5, 2026, subject to any court filings that could affect that deadline. An appeal by itself does not automatically stop the order, but the government may seek a stay while the appeal is pending.
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Coverage
Who Is Covered?
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This is the hardest question right now.
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The court's order protects the plaintiffs in the case and, where applicable, their members and customers. But the court explained that customer protection is tied to transactions with the named commercial plaintiffs and qualifying commercial members of the plaintiff associations.
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Capitol Armory was not a named plaintiff, but we are a current commercial member of a plaintiff organization in the case. That places Capitol Armory and qualifying transactions with our customers within the court's member and customer relief. We are confirming the operational details with counsel. Until we have a process we can stand behind, we will continue handling transfers through our established compliance process. If a better lawful path becomes available for your order, we will contact you directly.
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If you are personally a member of one of the plaintiff organizations, that may matter as well. We are working through that question and will share a clear update when we have a reliable answer.
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State Law
State Law Still Matters
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This court order addresses federal enforcement. It does not change state or local law.
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Eight states and the District of Columbia prohibit civilian suppressor ownership. Other states allow suppressors only when federal law conditions are met. Gun Owners of America flagged this problem and proposed language to fix it. That language never passed, and how those state laws apply to a limited federal injunction has not been decided by the courts.
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That means a person could potentially have a federal argument under this injunction and still face a separate state law issue. We will not put customers in that position without clear legal support.
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Where suppressors are prohibited outright
California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. Nothing in this ruling changes that. A federal court order limiting ATF enforcement does not create a right to possess an item your state bans.
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Where state law is tied to federal registration or licensing
Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Suppressors are legal in all fifteen, but each of these states makes lawful possession depend on the owner being registered under, licensed under, or in compliance with the National Firearms Act. These statutes were written on the assumption that federal registration would always exist. Several of them, including Ohio and Oregon, require the item to actually appear in the federal registry. Others use broader language about compliance with federal law.
In all fifteen of these states, and in every state (as of 8/15/26), Capitol Armory continues to process suppressor and AOW transfers through the established Form 4 process.
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Our Process
What Capitol Armory Is Doing
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For now, our process is unchanged.
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| • We will continue using the established ATF transfer process for new orders. |
| • Pending Form 4 applications will continue through the normal approval process. |
| • We will not skip a required step until we have clear written guidance from ATF and approval from our counsel. |
| • We will continue to follow the transfer procedures that apply in your state. |
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This is not because we are ignoring the ruling. It is because this ruling is new, limited, and likely to be challenged. We will not ask a customer to be the test case while the government, ATF, and the courts sort out the next step.
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Your Order
What This Means for Your Order
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If your Form 4 is already pending:
No action is needed. Please allow the current approval process to continue. We will contact you directly if anything changes.
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If you have paid but your Form 4 has not been submitted:
You may ask us to submit your Form 4 now through the established process, ask us to hold your serialized item while we wait for clearer guidance, or transfer your order to another dealer that chooses to proceed under its own interpretation of the court's order. We cannot tell you which choice is best for every customer, because the legal situation is still moving.
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If you already own a registered suppressor, SBR, or SBS:
Nothing about your existing registration changes because of this ruling.
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Legal Compliance
How Does This Affect Me Legally?
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If a transfer is completed without an approved Form 4, the buyer assumes all legal liability for that transfer. It is important to understand that the underlying law itself has not changed. This ruling did not repeal the NFA's registration and transfer requirements; it only stopped the federal government from enforcing them against the parties the order covers. That distinction matters. We do not know what the future holds here, and we can only speculate about how this plays out over the months ahead. Retroactive registration requirements, complications with transporting an item across state lines, or a shift in political will toward more aggressive enforcement could all create real problems down the road for anyone possessing a suppressor without the proper NFA paperwork on file. Until that uncertainty is resolved, we believe completing the standard Form 4 process is the only way to protect you, your property, and your record.
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There is another practical wrinkle worth understanding. Manufacturer warranty service on a suppressor typically requires shipping the item back to the manufacturer. Manufacturers generally will not accept a suppressor for warranty work unless it is properly registered, and it does not matter whether the ruling is later upheld, narrowed, or overturned on appeal. Practically speaking, this means a suppressor purchased or possessed outside the standard transfer process may be impossible to send in for manufacturer warranty work, leaving it without any warranty coverage at all. This is one more reason we are keeping our process unchanged until the legal picture is settled.
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Other Court Activity
What Else Is Happening in the Courts?
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The Silencer Shop Foundation ruling is not the only NFA decision in the news right now, and the picture it creates is not one-sided.
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On September 1, 2026, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in United States v. Berger, a case involving a Pennsylvania man convicted of possessing machine guns and unregistered suppressors. In that case, a two-judge majority upheld the suppressor registration requirement, reasoning that the NFA's registration process is a minimal, largely administrative burden that does not infringe the Second Amendment. A third judge on the panel reached the same result on separate reasoning and specifically declined to join that part of the majority's opinion, noting tension between that approach and the framework the Supreme Court has set out for evaluating Second Amendment cases.
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In plain terms, one federal court recently said the government cannot keep enforcing NFA registration requirements against the parties covered by its order, while a federal appeals court has now upheld a conviction for possessing an unregistered suppressor and affirmed that registration is lawful. These two rulings came from different courts, on different legal theories, addressing different parties, and neither one directly overrules the other. But together they leave a genuinely unsettled and conflicting legal picture on the basic question of whether an unregistered suppressor is lawful to possess.
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We are encouraged by this decision and are watching it closely. Capitol Armory has processed hundreds of thousands of NFA forms over the years. We will move quickly when the legal path is clear, but we will not guess with your property, your rights, or your record.
We will update you as soon as we have verified information.
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Capitol Armory
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Have Questions About Your Order?
Our team is monitoring this ruling closely and can walk you through your options.
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This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects our understanding of the ruling as of the date noted above and is subject to change without notice as the legal situation develops. If you have questions about your specific order, please contact our team.
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