A lot of us are celebrating the ATF's announcement last Friday that ATF is allowing the making and transfer of suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and "Any Other Weapons" without NFA registration. In large part, ATF is doing so because it lost two consolidated court cases in the Northern District of Texas, Silencer Shop v. ATF and Jensen v. ATF. The judge in those cases found the NFA to be unconstitutional since Congress eliminated the tax on the applicable NFA items in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The judge also issued an injunction preventing ATF from enforcing the NFA's registration requirements as to those items against the plaintiffs in that litigation, including members of the plaintiff organizations (e.g., GOA) and customers of the plaintiff companies (e.g., Silencer Shop). Friday's announcement said that ATF, as a matter of "enforcement discretion," is now choosing not to enforce NFA registration requirements as to everyone else. Since the announcement, I've gotten a lot of questions, including "is there any reason to still go through the NFA registration process (even though it's not being required)?" and "is there still any reason to keep my suppressors, SBRs, etc. in a NFA trust - or register them to a trust?" First, it's important to note that the law hasn't changed. ATF is just enjoined from enforcing the law against some people and voluntarily choosing not to enforce the law against everyone else (likely because the legal arguments that ATF lost in Texas it might very well lose again in other courts). Still, until Congress amends the NFA to remove the applicable items or SCOTUS rules on the constitutionality issue, there is some uncertainty and some risk going forward. For this reason, some of my clients are continuing to submit Form 1s and Form 4s and registering suppressors, SBRs and SBSs as individuals or as assets of their NFA trusts, because although ATF is currently not requiring NFA registration as a condition of making or transferring those items (and AOWs) as a matter of "enforcement discretion," that can change. Specifically: 1) the next president can appoint an ATF director who rescinds the non-enforcement policy announced 10/9/26 and begins enforcement of all NFA registration requirements again against anyone not covered by the Jensen/Silencer Shop injunction, including prosecutions for possession of unregistered NFA items; or 2) the next Congress can amend the NFA to impose a tax again on all NFA items, making the Texas decision and injunction moot, so that ATF could begin enforcing NFA registration requirements against everyone again; or 3) although ATF did not appeal the Jensen Silencer Shop decision, they could choose to relitigate the same issues in a different court and ultimately obtain a different result in a higher court (like the 5th Circuit or SCOTUS), which could overrule the Texas injunction, allowing ATF to begin enforcing NFA registration requirements against everyone again. If any one of the above happens, the caveats contained in ATF's recent FAQ become rather important: "Federal law does not generally permit subsequent registration of unregistered NFA items nor are there provisions that would automatically grandfather unregistered NFA firearms. * * * The NFA treats unregistered firearms as contraband. Individuals who make, possess, transfer, or receive unregistered NFA firearms are subject to felony penalties and forfeitures." atf.gov/firearms/update-to-n… Although currently not required to do so, people who continue registering their NFA items as individuals or in the name of their trusts are protecting themselves against any of those potential future outcomes - however likely or unlikely they may be.