Wyoming, 14 other states, a handful of gun advocacy groups, and individuals beat the Trump administration in court this week when a Texas-based federal judge called significant portions of the 1934 National Firearms Act unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled Wednesday that major portions of the act are unconstitutional and can’t be enforced on Wyoming’s government and a number of other plaintiffs.
Those provisions restrict suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and firearms classified as “any other weapons.”
Gov. Mark Gordon called the ruling a win.
“This is a great win for gun owners across the country, including here in Wyoming where our gun rights are an important part of our heritage,” said Gordon in a Friday email statement. “It is absolutely essential that the 2nd Amendment be respected and protected. I am delighted to see a judge recognize overreach when it is this clear.”
Gordon congratulated Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz and Kautz’s team “for their solid work and wish them the best as this case continues moving forward.”
Hendrix stayed his order until at least Aug. 12, in case the federal government wants to appeal. It hadn’t appealed as of Friday morning.
The judge also did not overturn the NFA’s restrictions on machine guns and destructive devices.
Mark Jones, Wyoming resident and national director of Gun Owners of America, told Cowboy State Daily the ruling represents a big win — but not an invitation to go make short-barreled rifles, at least until the dust settles.
“We’re advising people to be very careful about looking at a headline and running out and engaging in practices related to this until we get more information and there’s some decision on this appeal,” said Jones.
He also said that though Wyoming is a plaintiff, he doesn’t believe the injunction extends to every Wyoming citizen.
But, added Jones, “I still think it’s the biggest win against the NFA in the NFA’s history, and we'll see what happens.”
Trump Stance ‘Frustrating’
Gun Owners of America is one of the plaintiffs.
Hendrix’s order bars the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from enforcing the enjoined parts of the National Firearms Act against plaintiffs and the plaintiffs’ “agencies, political subdivisions, members, and customers — both current and future.”
Jones said that leaves protections for Wyoming residents in doubt because “residents” aren’t listed under the people the order protects. But, he said, a Wyomingite who is a member of the Gun Owners of America will be protected if the order is upheld.
It’s been frustrating that the Trump administration has been defending the National Firearms Act, said Jones.
“Very frustrating,” he said. “Because the president ran, obviously, as a strong 2nd Amendment supporter.”
Jones said GOA has been “openly concerned about that: why his administration is defending the National Firearms Act.”
Gun Control Act Remains
David Kopel, a senior fellow at the University of Wyoming College of Law Firearms Research Center, emphasized that though the NFA will be diminished if the injunction is upheld or remains in place, the Gun Control Act of 1968 is still law.
“Even if the National Firearms Act of 1934 had never been passed, if you wanted to go into a store and buy a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun or even a suppressor, you’d have to go through the same process as to buy any other gun,” said Kopel.
That includes background checks and federal paperwork.
But this ruling removes a noteworthy layer of federal paperwork, requirements and delays, added Jones.
Background
Congress passed the NFA in 1934 to tax and regulate Prohibition-era “gangster weapons,” including short-barreled shotguns and rifles, silencers, and “any other weapons” – a term the government has treated flexibly over the years.
The law also covers machineguns and destructive devices.
It imposes taxes, but also recordkeeping and registration requirements geared toward enforcing the tax.
A person who violates the law by owning or transferring one of the covered firearms without fulfilling the requirements can face up to 10 years in federal prison and $10,000 in fines, plus the loss of gun rights for life.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1937 upheld the act because the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to tax.
The Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 lifted the taxes from the short-barreled rifles and shotguns, silencers and “any other weapons.”
Hendrix ruled Wednesday that removing the taxes also removes constitutional justifications for law’s other paperwork, registration and recordkeeping requirements, which were ostensibly in place to enforce the tax.
He also wrote that in 1934 the commerce clause — the portion of the Constitution giving Congress authority over interstate commerce — would not have been seen as justifying the NFA in 1934.
But the Gun Control Act of 1968, regulating gun commerce, remains in place. It’s based on the commerce clause.
Wyoming’s Defiant Little Law
Wyoming law says a personal firearm, accessory or ammunition manufactured in the state, that stays in the borders of the state is not subject to federal law, taxation or regulation, “under the authority of the United States congress to regulate interstate commerce.”
Kopel had opined, however, that a person who makes a short-barreled rifle in Wyoming still cannot sell it to his next-door neighbor, because intrastate commerce affects interstate commerce.
Jones said Kopel is probably right.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
