BOISE, Idaho — In an October 12 public announcement, Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador became the first AG to publicly promote the lawful acquisition of untaxed firearms, following both a permanent injunction against portions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) at the district court level and recent clarification from the ATF on enforcement of the court decision.
In a press statement, AG Labrador announced that “Idahoans can now buy suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns without registration, lengthy waits, or federal taxes.”
He also celebrated that Idaho was one of the 15 states to back the Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF case, which, in August, resulted in a permanent injunction against federal enforcement of the NFA as applied to untaxed firearms.
“I have defended the Second Amendment in the Idaho Legislature, in Congress, and as Attorney General,” said Labrador. “For more than 90 years, the federal government made law-abiding citizens ask permission, pay a tax, and wait months to exercise their constitutional rights. Idaho sued, Idaho won, and the ATF’s guidance means that victory now belongs to every gun owner in our state.”
The Idaho attorney general is the first AG (to our knowledge) to make a public-facing statement encouraging citizens to act on the looser restrictions regarding untaxed firearms. (He further encouraged Idaho gun owners and dealers to read the ATF’s guidance for themselves.)
The October 9 guidance by the ATF paved the way for Americans to begin transferring and making untaxed NFA firearms without needing to register them.
However, there are still 15 states that have laws tying the legality of silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, or other covered arms to compliance with the federal National Firearms Act registration process.
Firearms Policy Coalition is encouraging these state attorneys general to suspend enforcement of those laws until legislatures can make permanent changes to the statutes.
While Idaho has courageously taken the lead on communicating the new legal landscape to its residents, we expect it will be the first of many states to do something similar, resulting in the opening of the floodgates as it relates to acquisition of untaxed NFA firearms.
As we covered in a recent article, this path is not without risk, given that the NFA is still law, the excise tax can be reinstituted by a future Congress, and NFA items are still considered contraband. However, gun rights groups continue to press Congress for a full repeal of the archaic and controversial gun control measure and seek other ways to cement the victory against future hostile administrations.
