The courts said it in 1937.
Congress said it again in July.
And now, in a blistering November 10th letter, Congressman Andrew Clyde and more than thirty House members have put it in writing one more time: The National Firearms Act CANNOT be enforced without its tax. Period.
That wasn’t their opinion. That was Congress’s intent when it passed President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).
And Clyde just put it to Attorney General Pam Bondi bluntly: the ATF’s NFA registry on these items is dead — start acting like it.
This escalation was necessary only because of the cowardice of weak-kneed Republicans in the Senate like John Cornyn — who folded like a cheap lawn chair during the OBBB negotiations and obeyed the ruling of a Democrat Senate parliamentarian like she was Moses carrying stone tablets.
The practical result?
Gun owners STILL have to register short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, and AOWs — even though Congress eliminated the tax that “justifies” the registry.
This is the jailbreak gun owners should’ve gotten in the first place — one that only Texas Gun Rights, NAGR, and GOA fought for on Capitol Hill.
But the establishment gun lobby? They helped Cornyn cover his tracks, waved the white flag of surrender, and celebrated the tax removal.
The price of that betrayal? Americans are now waiting on courts, instead of Congress, to clean up this mess.
What Clyde’s Letter Actually Says
The November 10th letter to AG Pam Bondi is the clearest statement Congress has made about the NFA in 90 years.
Clyde and his colleagues told DOJ three things:
- Congress eliminated the NFA tax on SBRs, SBSs, silencers, and AOWs. OBBB Section 70436 sets the tax at $0.
- The Supreme Court upheld the NFA only because it was a tax. In Sonzinsky v. United States (1937), SCOTUS said the NFA is constitutional solely because it’s “in aid of” Congress’s taxing power.
- Therefore, the registration, fingerprints, serial-number filings, and transfer requirements cannot stand without that tax.
Clyde makes it explicit: “The taxation and registration provisions of the NFA are inseparably linked.”
Congress eliminated the tax. So Congress eliminated the registry — by design.
Now he’s demanding the DOJ enforce the law as written and defend Congress’s intent in court.
Which Texas Members Stood Tall?
A number of rock-solid Texas fighters signed the Clyde letter, including:
- Chip Roy (R-TX-21) — running to fill the void left by AG Paxton, who is now seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by RINO John Cornyn.
- Wesley Hunt (R-TX-38) — leading the charge to unwind Cornyn’s BSCA gun control, and also seeking to unseat Cornyn.
- Michael Cloud (R-TX-27) — representing the Coastal Bend, including Corpus Christi and Victoria, reaching toward Bastrop County.
- Keith Self (R-TX-3) — covering the northern suburbs of Dallas / Collin County area.
These Texans deserve credit for refusing to bow to the bureaucratic sludge still lingering inside DOJ under Pam Bondi’s watch.
Why This Letter Was Necessary
Because gun owners were betrayed. Let’s call it what it is.
During the OBBB fight, the Senate parliamentarian — an unelected Democrat lawyer — claimed that fully striking the NFA’s SBR/suppressor/shotgun/AOW registry violated the Byrd Rule.
That ruling was wrong. Legally, historically, procedurally — wrong.
But instead of challenging her, the Republican Senate — led by John Cornyn — saluted and fell in line. They ripped the deregulation language out, kept the $0 tax, and declared it a “victory.”
A victory? They left the unconstitutional registry in place and celebrated like they’d won the World Series.
And the establishment gun lobby? They cheered.
Instead of fighting for full deregulation, they helped Cornyn and the Senate sell it to gun owners as a “historic win.”
Meanwhile, Texas Gun Rights, NAGR, and GOA were telling the truth: “If the NFA tax is gone, the NFA registry must go with it.”
Clyde’s letter simply states — in congressional ink — what they were saying all along.
The NFA is now legally hollow. A skeleton with no beating heart.
AmmoLand correctly pointed out that if DOJ continues the unconstitutional enforcement of a law with no taxing foundation behind it, they are daring the courts to throw major pieces of the NFA into the shredder.
This letter is Congress warning the DOJ: Stop digging your own grave.
“Cornyn’s cowardice forced gun owners into this bizarre situation where Congress eliminated the tax but left the police-state registry intact. Now Clyde and a handful of fighters are trying to clean up the mess Cornyn and the establishment gun lobby created. Texas Gun Rights stands firmly with Clyde — and we’re done letting D.C. politicians and bureaucrats trample our rights to appease a Democrat parliamentarian. The NFA isn’t sacred. It’s unconstitutional — and it’s time to rip it apart, root and branch.”
— Chris McNutt, Texas Gun Rights President
But Clyde’s letter is just the beginning — not the end.
Congress has now formally told DOJ: the registry for SBRs, SBSs, silencers, and AOWs has no constitutional leg to stand on and must be treated as repealed.
The only question left is whether Attorney General Bondi listens — or whether gun owners will have to drag DOJ into court and teach them the same lesson a judge taught ATF in Garland v. VanDerStok: you don’t get to rewrite federal law to suit your agenda.
Gun owners didn’t settle during OBBB.
We’re not settling now.
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