US gun rules change as court ruling deregulates silencers, rifles and shotguns

Some Americans can now possess silencers, short-barrelled rifles and shotguns without registering them with the federal government after the Justice Department declined to pause a Texas court ruling.

US District Judge James Wesley Hendrix issued the ruling on August 5, giving the department one week to seek a stay.

That deadline expired at midnight on Thursday, CBS News reported.

The ruling applies only to parties involved in two consolidated lawsuits, which could include members of Gun Owners of America.

The case centres on the National Firearms Act, a 1934 law requiring certain firearms and equipment to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Congress eliminated a $200 tax on transfers of certain regulated firearms in 2025. Hendrix ruled that removing the tax also eliminated the constitutional basis for regulating silencers and short-barrelled firearms under the law.

Gun-control groups criticised the decision. "Today, our government is failing us," Brady president Kris Brown said. The Justice Department could still appeal.

"The Department respects Americans' Second Amendment rights and is currently assessing the impact of the court's ruling," a department spokesperson told CBS News.

Gun Owners of America, meanwhile, celebrated what it described as the first lawful unregistered suppressor transfers since 1934.