GOAs Florida Members,

Your support helped deliver a historic victory against a nearly 100-year-old infringement on the Second Amendment. Now, new guidance from ATF and a Florida State Attorney’s Office makes clear what that victory means for Florida gun owners.

Gun Owners of America fought to repeal the National Firearms Act outright and helped secure legislation reducing its making and transfer taxes to $0 for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and firearms classified as “any other weapons.”

Then we took the fight to court. Our argument was straightforward: Congress cannot eliminate the tax and keep enforcing a registration scheme justified by its taxing power.

We won.

In Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, GOA and our fellow plaintiffs secured an injunction against the challenged NFA requirements for these untaxed firearms. The Justice Department declined to appeal.

But we wanted every law-abiding American to benefit. GOA urged the Trump administration to apply the victory nationwide, beyond GOA members and the other protected parties.

On October 9, ATF announced that it would stop requiring NFA approval and registration for these items nationwide. Under that policy, Form 1 and Form 4 applications are voluntary for the covered firearms.

This is a tremendous Second Amendment victory against the NFA’s 92-year-old tax-and-registration scheme.

For Florida gun owners, the state-law language is clear. Section 790.221(3) expressly exempts firearms that are “lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law.”

Florida does not independently require a Form 1, Form 4, tax stamp, or registration in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

That distinction matters. In Georgia for example, their law expressly states legal ownership depends on registration under the NFA. Florida’s law says you can legally own it in the Sunshine State if you can lawfully own and possess it on a federal level.

Under the current federal policy and the interpretation explained in the Florida memo, otherwise lawful short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns can be owned and possessed in Florida without a Form 1 or Form 4.

Suppressors present an even simpler issue. Section 790.221 does not prohibit them. Chapter 790 mentions firearm silencers in its definition of “firearm,” consistent with their treatment under the federal Gun Control Act, without creating a separate NFA registration requirement.

I have spoken with numerous State Attorney’s Offices about this issue. Those discussions reinforce our position that Florida law does not create a conflicting registration requirement.

There is also written guidance to law enforcement. In his October 11 memorandum, Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Brian Kramer explains that possession of an SBR, SBS, or suppressor, or the absence of registration paperwork, should not alone justify a detention, search, seizure, or arrest.

The remaining rules still matter. Prohibited-person restrictions and applicable dealer background checks remain in effect (meaning you must complete a ATF Form 4473). ATF still requires approval for interstate transportation of SBRs and SBSs. Machine guns and destructive devices remain subject to the NFA, and other states may impose their own restrictions.

Your membership helped make this victory possible. Together, we will keep fighting until these unconstitutional infringements are gone.

In Liberty,

Luis Valdes
Florida State Director
Gun Owners of America