In what was a very busy month for the Second Amendment Foundation, the organization welcomed new corporate partners and renewals, filed a new lawsuit and numerous briefs in ongoing cases, attended the ATF’s signing of final and proposed rules, and announced a staff promotion. Check out the full details, and more, below:
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and his team at the Department of Justice amended United States v. DC on May 14 to include a challenge to the District’s suppressor ban, a major development in the fight to recognize suppressors as protected under the Second Amendment.
We have long maintained that suppressors are constitutionally protected hearing-safety devices and that state-level bans are unconstitutional. In 2023, we partnered with Silencer Shop to file Anderson v. Raoul, challenging Illinois’ suppressor ban. That effort was followed by Padua v. Platkin in New Jersey in 2025.
With the federal government now joining the challenge, the long-term impact could be significant: the potential elimination of suppressor bans nationwide, making suppressors legal in all 50 states and Washington, DC, for the first time in more than a century.
We also want to recognize the efforts of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and the Civil Rights Division team, as well as Barry Arrington, Acting Chief of the DOJ’s Second Amendment Section.
The first of ASA’s three lawsuits challenging the NFA is scheduled to get its day in court! On June 18th, the Eastern District of Missouri is set to hear oral arguments for Brown v ATF, the ASA, NRA, SAF, and FPC-backed litigation that we filed after we successfully eliminated the $200 transfer tax for suppressors, short-barreled firearms, and AOWs.
We are excited to present our case and will provide additional updates following the hearing.
In case you missed it, at the end of April, newly confirmed ATF Director Rob Cekada signed a landmark package of 34 pro-gun rules and regulations aimed at protecting and enhancing the Second Amendment.
Included in the package are rules to eliminate the Chief Law Enforcement Officer notification requirement, repeal the requirement to notify ATF when you take an NFA item, other than a suppressor, across state lines for less than 365 days, allowing married couples to jointly possess NFA items without having to register them in a trust, rescinding the pistol brace rule, clarifying what it means to be “engaged in the business”, allowing FFLs to destroy old 4473 records and requiring the government to do so, and many many more.
The proposed rules have been submitted to the Federal Register, where public comments are now being accepted. We are currently formulating our comments on all suppressor-related rules and will need industry support to achieve the best possible policy outcomes. Stand by for guidance in the coming weeks.
Lawmakers in Tallahassee have advanced legislation that would exempt suppressors from Florida state sales tax beginning September 1 through the end of the year. The final vote is scheduled for Friday, May 29th. If approved, Florida would become the first state in the country to implement a suppressor sales tax holiday.
We want to thank Silencer Shop for pioneering this idea, the NRA for calling out the Senate President for playing games with your Second Amendment rights, and to every ASA member in Florida who contacted their legislators to let them know this is a priority!
Alaska Senate Bill 243, the bill to clean up Alaska’s suppressor statute, passed out of the Senate State Affairs Committee in May but, sadly, petered out before the legislature adjourned sine die. So what does this mean? For now, nothing.
Remember, this is part of ASA’s legislative campaign to make sure suppressors remain legal if and when we get them removed from the NFA. Until that happens, this is a purely hypothetical best-practices sort of exercise. Nonetheless, we will be back in Juneau next year to finish the drill!
The American Suppressor Association is leading the fight for suppressor reform throughout the country. Industry partnerships play a critical role in advancing and protecting the future of the suppressor industry in the United States. If you are interested in supporting ASA’s mission through sponsorship opportunities, contact Jessica Cummings at jessica@amsuppressor.com for additional information.