Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is asking the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to clarify how it will stop enforcing provisions of the National Firearms Act that were struck down by a federal court.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled August 5 that registration and application requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and certain other firearms exceed Congress’ powers under the U.S. Constitution. Oklahoma was among 15 states that challenged the provisions.
The court found that when Congress eliminated taxes on those firearms last year, it also eliminated the constitutional basis for registration requirements established to collect the taxes. The court issued a permanent injunction barring enforcement against the plaintiffs.
“This is a win for the Second Amendment and for the constitutional limits on federal power. No law-abiding Oklahoman should have to be fingerprinted, photographed and cleared by Washington to buy a suppressor, least of all to help collect a tax that no longer exists,” Drummond said.
Drummond and eight other attorneys general from plaintiff states sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice seeking clarification about how the ruling will affect firearm purchasers and dealers in their states.
The coalition maintains that, absent a stay of the ruling, the affected National Firearms Act provisions are no longer enforceable against the plaintiffs and purchasers should not be required to complete paperwork beyond the standard Form 4473 background check.
“I encourage the ATF to proactively communicate with purchasers and dealers about the registration requirements that no longer apply to suppressors,” Drummond said. “Oklahomans deserve clarity from the federal government in the wake of this ruling.”
The attorneys general asked whether ATF will notify purchasers, firearms dealers and manufacturers in the plaintiff states that the registration requirements are no longer enforceable.
Drummond said failure by the federal government to remove the registration requirements could violate the court’s order.
