Gun Owners Of America To Take NFA Before Supreme Court

The National Firearms Act is an insidious piece of legislation that I desperately hope to one day see relegated to the proverbial trash heap of history. The idea that we, law-abiding citizens who have done nothing wrong, should have to beg for permission to arm ourselves with certain firearms is practically begging to be shot down.

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I just don’t know if I’ll see it in my lifetime.

However, it does appear that Gun Owners of America is doing its part to make my dream a reality.

In a press release sent out on Wednesday, GOA announced it was taking an anti-NFA case to the highest court in the land.

GOA/GOF Fund Challenge to NFA in U.S. Supreme Court

“The arguments presented by GOA and GOF cut to the heart of the National Firearms Act.” – GOA’s Erich Pratt

Springfield, VA – Gun Owners of America (GOA) and its legal arm, Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), this week continued their defense of Jeremy Kettler, who is a disabled combat veteran.  GOA/GOF submitted a petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Kettler, after he was convicted for violating the National Firearms Act (NFA).

The Obama Justice Department brought criminal felony charges against Kettler for illegally possessing an unregistered firearm suppressor, despite the fact that Kansas’ “Second Amendment Protection Act” protected his actions.

GOA and GOF have stood with Kettler, both in his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and now in the U.S. Supreme Court.

GOA’s executive director, Erich Pratt, stated, “It’s time to challenge the NFA, which has long been a leviathan of unconstitutional gun control. GOA/GOF is not only proud to defend one of our nation’s disabled veterans, but also to potentially deal a significant blow to the NFA.”

GOA/GOF arguments challenge the legitimacy of the NFA as a so-called “tax,” challenge the absurd notion that the Second Amendment only applies to “bearable arms,” and raise concerns that the NFA is a tax on a constitutionally-protected right.

“GOA/GOF have stood for the right to own ‘bearable arms’ of all types, and firearms accessories as well — including suppressors and machineguns,” Pratt stated. “The arguments presented by GOA/GOF cut to the heart of the National Firearms Act.”

GOA/GOF urge the Supreme Court to take up this case and put an end to lower courts ignoring the Heller and McDonald decisions.

“Jeremy Kettler’s petition presents solid, well-argued questions important to all gun owners, and we hope the Court will grant certiorari to decide them,” Pratt concluded.

For more information, please see here. And to read GOA’s petition for certiorari see here.

Erich Pratt, or another GOA spokesman, is available for interviews. Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over 1.5 million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Newsroom.

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I wish GOA luck.

However, I’m skeptical. Not because the organization doesn’t have a case, mind you. The Supreme Court’s previous stance supporting a marijuana case in a state where it was legal is that it becomes impossible to know where marijuana was grown, making it impossible to tell if it was leaving the state or not. (Yes, that’s a really oversimplified version of the case, but I think you get my point.)

Suppressors are serialized and stamped with where they are made. That means so long as a suppressor doesn’t leave a state where it was made, it should be exempt from the NFA rules.

However, there are a couple of roadblocks. One is the Supreme Court’s recent reticence in hearing any Second Amendment case. With Justice Kavanaugh on the bench, one can hope that would change, but I’m not ready to hold my breath.

Another is whether or not the current court will hold with previous court rulings.

I hope I’m wrong on this. I would love for the justices to find the whole damn thing unconstitutional and strike it down. I’ll be first in line for suppressors for my guns, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.

I wish them luck, nonetheless.

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