Gabby Giffords’ gun control group, Giffords, was apoplectic Thursday morning over the Trump DOJ’s refusal to appeal a court decision that struck down the NFA suppressor regulation requirement.

Breitbart News reported that on August 5, 2026, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled against National Firearms Act (NFA) registration requirements in Jensen v. ATF. This opened the door for plaintiffs in the case–including those in a consolidated case–to transfer suppressors and short barrel rifles and shotguns without complying with NFA registration requirements.

Caveat: Judge Hendrix allowed the government a seven-day window in which to appeal his ruling before allowing it to take effect. This meant that, barring appeal, it would take effect August 13, 2026. The DOJ did not appeal and, therefore, on the morning of August 13, Silencer Shop, one of the plaintiffs in the case, transferred a suppressor without registration.

Giffords was not happy:

Breitbart News noted that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly Handgun Control, Inc., went into full meltdown mode Thursday morning as well.  The Brady Campaign accused the DOJ of “[failing] to protect common-sense” gun controls for suppressors and short barrel rifles and shotguns.

They did not explain why rifles or shotguns with shorter barrels should be the subject of special gun controls nor why devices that are not firearms–i.e., suppressors, should be under any gun control at all.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at [email protected].