The Wire · CalGunHub

Solicitor General Formally Declines Appeal in Silencer Shop NFA Case

Published October 1, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

DOJ notified Congress it will not appeal the Texas NFA injunction, and the October 5 deadline to challenge the ruling passed with no filing.

Written by the CalGunHub desk from public reporting

Who this affects: The federal government's decision not to appeal does not reach California law. State statutes separately prohibit civilian suppressor, short-barreled rifle, and short-barreled shotgun possession, and those prohibitions remain in place exactly as they stood before the Texas litigation began. Californians outside the injunction's party-specific coverage also remain fully subject to federal NFA requirements. This is general information, not legal advice.

The Justice Department has made its retreat from the National Firearms Act litigation official. Solicitor General D. John Sauer informed Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley by letter dated September 24, 2026 that the government will not pursue an appeal in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, the August ruling that blocked NFA registration and approval requirements for zero-tax items as applied to the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. The letter was filed in the case on October 1, and the 60-day window to appeal the August 5 judgment closed October 5 without any filing, according to tracking by Popular Suppressors.

With no appeal, the permanent injunction from the Northern District of Texas is final for the parties it covers. Its scope did not expand: the relief remains limited to the named plaintiffs, members of the plaintiff organizations, and customers of the plaintiff companies. The NFA continues in force for everyone else, machine guns and destructive devices remain fully regulated, and state laws are untouched by the federal posture.

Procedural loose ends remain. Gun Talk and Outdoor Life reported that Judge Hendrix granted the department a ten-day extension to respond to states that joined the case, moving that deadline to October 12, 2026. ATF's promised written guidance had not appeared as of October 2, though Director Cekada said, per Outdoor Life, that it would arrive the week of October 5.

Gun-control groups reacted sharply. Brady United issued a statement October 1 condemning the decision, with president Kris Brown calling the NFA a decades-old safeguard. Supporters of the ruling, meanwhile, treated the deadline's passage as the practical end of the fight over registration for the covered categories, while noting unresolved compliance questions identified earlier by NSSF and others.

Informational only, not legal advice. Facts are attributed to the sources listed above.