Look, the ATF may be under new leadership, and the agency may report to people who aren't as anti-gun as the last administration, but even if you remove the politics from the organization, it's still a bureaucracy, which means it'll do all it can to cover its own posterior.
Unfortunately for them, no one is giving the ATF the benefit of the doubt, so when receipts are presented, well...
That's what happened when the ATF tried to pretend that NFA applications were really just a formality. Basically, they argued it was a shall-issue thing, which would mean that there's no real restriction tied to them except for prohibited persons or something like that.
In other words, the NFA isn't really a hurdle to owning NFA items.
Unfortunately, Gun Owners of America was able to show proof that this isn't the case.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) backtracked Tuesday after Gun Owners of America (GOA) posted screenshots on X of the denial of an application for items covered by the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).
The reconciliation bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025 contained provisions that reduced the taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and guns described as “any other weapon” to $0. According to screenshots posted on X by GOA from legal documents filed Monday, a member of the gun-rights group requested tax stamps for a suppressor and a short-barreled Winchester 1300 shotgun, leading ATF to respond on the social media site. (RELATED: Chris Murphy Wants To Jack Up Taxes On Certain Accessories And Guns Sky High)
“On January 28, 2026, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (‘ATF’) ‘disapproved’ two Form 1 Applications to Make and Register NFA Firearms related to making a suppressor and a short-barreled rifle that had been submitted by a member of Plaintiff Gun Owners of America,” GOA said in its Monday filing. “As Plaintiffs explain in the attached notice of supplemental authority, ATF’s disapproval of these Form 1s demonstrates that the National Firearms Act is not a ‘shall-issue’ scheme as Defendants argue. And it shows that ATF determined that the exercise of Second Amendment rights an illegitimate reason to acquire a firearm.”
The applicant states that his reason for wanting what he wanted was "EXERCISE MY GOD GIVEN RIGHT." The ATF said that wasn't a good enough reason.
Now, if someone had said something like, "Overthrow the United States government," I could see the ATF balking at that. Exercising one's right, though, is an absolutely valid reason to own something, and the ATF is in no position to determine otherwise.
To their credit, though, the ATF is backing down, because this is not a good look for the agency while they're trying to pretend not to be the same agency they were under Joe Biden's autopen.
ATF is aware of the report regarding a Form 1 denial for “insufficient answer.” With high application volumes, occasional admin errors occur, which we promptly correct when identified. This specific matter has been resolved. Learn more at https://t.co/G7uAU4QUif. https://t.co/PszxpraPEX pic.twitter.com/zhU8tAyDbm
— ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) February 10, 2026
Frankly, though, I find the whole "we get a lot of stuff, so we're going to have some mistakes" thing less than an ideal explanation for this.
What this represents, at best, is that there are people in the ATF who seem to think they have the power to determine who gets to exercise their rights and who doesn't. That directly undermines the idea that NFA applications are formalities and represent no real barriers to lawful ownership of NFA items.
That's the best-case scenario, that it was just some lone anti-gunner who either hasn't gotten the memo or has just chosen to ignore it.
The real fear is that nothing has really changed in the ATF's core. They're just waiting for the next anti-gun president to let them off the leash.
If that's the case, start investing in body armor for your dog.
