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August 13, 2026 / 12:24 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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Some Americans can now possess short-barreled rifles, shotguns and silencers without registering them with the federal government, after the Trump administration declined to pause a Texas judge's ruling issued earlier this month that deregulated those weapons.The Aug. 5 ruling by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas gave the Justice Department a one-week deadline to request a stay before his ruling went into effect. That deadline expired at midnight on Thursday."Today, our government is failing us," said Kris Brown, the president of the gun-control group Brady. "At midnight, uniquely lethal weapons and devices — including silencers, short-barreled rifles, and shotguns — were deregulated for the first time in nearly a century."The Justice Department still has time to appeal the ruling, however."The Department respects Americans' Second Amendment rights and is currently assessing the impact of the court's ruling," a department spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.The National Firearms Act is the primary law that regulates the purchase and sale of certain specialized firearms and related equipment, including short-barreled rifles and silencers. Enacted in 1934, it imposes taxes on these firearms, and created a regulatory regime that requires people to register them with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
