If I had the money, and was granted a Cert to the Supreme Court to submit an Amicus Brief, and being that the Feds, via President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, finally kill the $200 NFA Tax, the entire house of cards on SBRs, SBSs, and Suppressors has collapsed, the Second Amendment Will Breathe Free Again!
AMICUS BRIEF’S QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether the continued classification and regulation of short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and firearm suppressors under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53, remains constitutional under the Second Amendment, where:
(1) the federal government has eliminated the historic $200 transfer tax associated with such items;
(2) such arms and accessories are commonly possessed for lawful purposes, including self-defense, sporting use, and hearing protection;
(3) the NFA’s registration-and-transfer scheme imposes severe burdens not historically grounded in the Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation; and
(4) modern Second Amendment jurisprudence, including District of Columbia v. Heller, McDonald v. City of Chicago, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, requires historical analogues for firearm restrictions.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
The National Firearms Act of 1934 was never about keeping Americans safe, it was a classic tax-and-regulate power grab rammed through during the Great Depression. Congress knew it couldn’t outright ban these guns and gadgets under any legitimate constitutional authority, so they hid behind the taxing power and slapped a monstrous $200 transfer tax on machine guns, SBRs, SBSs, suppressors, and anything else that scared the bureaucrats. Back then that was a king’s ransom, deliberately designed to price law-abiding citizens out of their rights.
Courts bought the scam because it was dressed up as a “revenue measure.”
But the second the feds drop that $200 tax, the whole rotten foundation crumbles. What’s left isn’t taxation, it’s a pure, unadulterated federal stranglehold: forced fingerprints, mugshots, national registry entry, endless bureaucratic delays, and felony prison time for the slightest paperwork slip-up.
Under Bruen, the government now has to prove this tyrannical nonsense matches America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Newsflash for the gun-grabbers in D.C.: It doesn’t. The Founders never forced free citizens to beg Big Brother for permission slips to own arms or simple safety devices. Zero historical analogues. Zero constitutional authority.
SBRs and SBSs are just compact, maneuverable rifles and shotguns, plain and simple “Arms” protected by the Second Amendment. Suppressors? They’re nothing more than modern hearing protection that knocks dangerous decibels down so you don’t go deaf at the range or in the field. Millions are legally owned by responsible Americans. They don’t make guns “silent” any more than a car muffler turns a truck into a whisper.
United States v. Miller doesn’t rescue this mess, and the “dangerous and unusual” excuse from Heller collapses when these items are in everyday common use by millions of law-abiding gun owners.
The constitutional fix is as obvious as it is overdue:
(1) Treat SBRs and SBSs exactly like every other rifle and shotgun under the Gun Control Act, transfer them through FFLs with a simple NICS check.
(2) Treat suppressors like any other firearm accessory (scopes, slings, ear pro) and let Americans buy them over the counter like free citizens should.
The Second Amendment is not a second-class right. The NFA’s regulatory nightmare was never constitutional, and once the tax fig leaf is gone, it’s time to burn it down.
I. The NFA Was Always a Tax Scam, Never a Public-Safety Law
In 1934, the federal government didn’t have the constitutional backbone to ban guns outright, so they pulled a fast one: hide behind the taxing power and made the $200 stamp so expensive that it might as well have been a ban for working Americans. Registration, approvals, serial numbers, all of it existed to squeeze revenue out of gun owners. Courts upheld it only because it was sold as a tax.
Strip away the tax, and the emperor has no clothes. What remains is raw, unconstitutional federal overreach on your God-given right to keep and bear arms.
II. Killing the Tax Rips the Mask Off the NFA’s Regulatory Tyranny
No more revenue pretense. Now it’s just endless red tape, months-long waits, and felony traps designed to harass law-abiding Americans. The Founders never dreamed of forcing citizens to register arms with a distant central authority or beg for pre-approval before buying a musket or any future arm.
Try pulling this garbage on the First Amendment, special taxes and registration to buy a printing press or hand out pamphlets, and the courts would laugh you out of the building. Why does the Second Amendment keep getting treated like the red-headed stepchild of the Bill of Rights?
III. SBRs and SBSs Are Constitutionally Protected Arms, Full Stop
Shorter barrels don’t magically strip away your Second Amendment rights. These are bearable arms in widespread common use for home defense, truck guns, competition, training, and even military and law-enforcement work. AR pistols prove the absurdity every single day: functionally identical to SBRs but somehow magically exempt from the worst parts of the NFA.
Heller and Bruen could not be clearer: if law-abiding citizens commonly own it for lawful purposes, it is protected. Barrel length is a 20th-century bureaucratic invention, not a constitutional command.
IV. Suppressors Are Hearing Protection, Not Hollywood “Silencers
The movie myth is dead. Suppressors don’t make guns silent; they simply protect your hearing, your family’s hearing, and everyone else at the range or in the woods. They’re safety devices, plain and simple, the firearm equivalent of a car muffler or industrial earmuffs.
Millions of Americans own them lawfully. Crime statistics show criminals almost never use them. Treating these life-preserving tools like machine guns[1] is peak government stupidity and flat-out unconstitutional.
V. Bruen’s History-and-Tradition Test Is a Death Sentence for the NFA
There was zero colonial or Founding-era tradition of federal firearm registration, pre-approval permission slips, national databases, or special taxes on arms. Early America was swimming in guns with virtually zero federal meddling. The NFA is pure 20th-century tyranny that Bruen was written to expose and destroy.
VI. Common Use = Ironclad Constitutional Protection
Heller drew the line in the sand: arms “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes” are protected. SBRs, SBSs, and suppressors blow past that standard. The government cannot regulate your rights into rarity and then claim that rarity justifies even more regulation. That’s not law, that’s circular despotism.
VII. FFLs and NICS Already Get the Job Done, Ditch the NFA Nonsense
If the Court finally rules the NFA regime unconstitutional for these items, the existing federal framework works perfectly. Let FFLs handle transfers[2] with background checks just like every other Title I firearm. Public safety remains protected. The Constitution is satisfied. The bureaucratic empire loses its grip. Problem solved.
VIII. Suppressors Belong in the Free Market Like Every Other Accessory
Suppressors aren’t firearms; they don’t shoot bullets, they don’t increase lethality, they simply make shooting safer and quieter. Sell them over the counter like scopes, slings, or ear protection. The sky will not fall. Hearing damage will plummet. Responsible gun owners will cheer. And the gun-grabbers’ favorite boogeyman will lose its power.
CONCLUSION
Being that the $200 NFA tax is finally dead and buried, the entire unconstitutional regime against SBRs, SBSs, and suppressors has no leg left to stand on. The federal government has zero historical tradition to support nationwide registration, permission slips, or extraordinary burdens on these commonly owned arms and safety devices.
SBRs and SBSs must be treated like every other rifle and shotgun. Suppressors must be sold freely over the counter like any other lawful accessory.
The Second Amendment demands nothing less. This Court must deliver it, no more infringements.
Respectfully submitted,
Alan Jay Chwick, Paralegal
Pro se
Proud, Unapologetic American Gun Owner Who Still Believes
“Shall Not Be Infringed”
Means Exactly What It Says.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Alan J. Chwick, A.S., B.S., FL/NY/SC Paralegal is known for his involvement in legal articles usually related to firearm regulations and for his contributions to discussions on firearm rights. Retired Managing Coach of the Freeport NY Junior Marksmanship Club (FreeportJuniorClub.org). Escaped New York State to South Carolina and is an SC FFL & Gunsmith (Everything22andMore.com).
AJChwick@iNCNF.org | TWITTER & TRUTHSOCIAL: @iNCNF
SEE ALSO:
1. So Called ‘Assault Weapons’ ~ When Words Are Used Instead of Guns To Disarm Us
2. Founders Knew: They Foresaw Today’s Unaccountable Government!
3. “Congress Shall Make No Law” vs. “Shall Not Be Infringed”
4. U.S. Second Amendment: Means ALL Weapons & ZERO Infringements
5. Are Gun Permit-to-Purchase Laws Unconstitutional?
6. When Paperwork Became the Policy: Firearms Regulation During the Biden Era
7. Your Moral Right To Keep & Bear Firearms In The United States
9. The Founders’ Experiment: Arms in America
11. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms: A Chronological Legal History from Blackstone to the Bruen
[1] This author considers the NFA stance on machine guns to be unconstitutional.
[2] This author feels that machine guns should be transferred in the same way as any other firearm.