The ATF has already accepted defeat on the registration of suppressors and short-barreled long guns. Unfortunately, there's an issue. A number of states have laws that require these items to be registered because that's still the law on the books.
I know, it's weird, but when federal law required it, it was little more than a state-level measure that allowed them to prosecute offenders. Now that it's a law on the books that will not be enforced, things are different.
And for folks in Montana, it looks like lawmakers are considering taking care of business by deregulating suppressors at the state level, according to NRA-ILA.
Montana Republicans announced plans for legislation to deregulate suppressors and short barreled firearms during the 2027 legislative session. This is a result of newly issued guidelines by the ATF as a result of recent litigation. This is a top priority for the NRA in Montana for the upcoming session. The NRA would like to thank the many legislators expressing support for this legislation, and the leadership on this issue demonstrated by Attorney General Knudsen, Speaker Ler, Representative Mitchell, Senator Galt, and Senator Glimm.
This goes along a similar line to Missouri, whose attorney general has said she will not enforce the state laws there.
I'd love to say Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr was among them, but he's not. More than that, his office has refused to reply to multiple emails by me asking if he was considering a similar move. I guess no one in his office wants to go on the record opposing gun rights, but won't defend them, either.
Or maybe they were all out getting gelato or something...over multiple days. I'm sure it's nothing we Georgia voters should remember come the next primary season. Nothing at all.
For Montana, though, this is better news than an attorney general opting not to prosecute people for violating a law. That's because once a law is there, even if it's not enforced by one attorney general, it might be enforced by the next one. That shouldn't be something anyone should be concerned about.
So, Montana's approach, while not as quickly, is the better option of the two.
Ideally, though, you'd get both; an attorney general refusing to enforce an unconstitutional law and a legislature that's planning on repealing it as soon as the session kicks off in January. That gives you a short term form of relief, along with the longer term relief Montanans need.
Now, if every state will do this exact thing, we can move forward. Realistically, only the pro-gun states are even remotely likely to do so, which means some of you guys are going to remain screwed. You're in anti-gun states with anti-gun AGs, after all.
As a Georgian, though, I can tell you not to feel too bad about it. I haven't heard of anyone looking to fix our laws here and, as noted above, our attorney general can't be bothered to reply to a media inquiry asking if he's even considering it or not.
We're in the same boat.
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