The House and Senate are both out of session. The House will return on August 31 and the Senate will return on September 14.
Before the Senate left town for their August recess, it passed a continuing resolution (CR) that funds the government until December 11 of this year. This CR blocks a critical rule from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would give the agency much more authority over the review and approval of grants.
This is not the same CR the House passed earlier this month, so upon the House’s return to Washington, they will have to either take up the Senate passed CR, amend it and send it back to the Senate—or allow for a lapse in government funding.
One of the items that the Senate did not deal with was Reconciliation 3.0, which includes language and money for the SAVE America Act.
Some conservatives believe that the Senate is deliberately pushing Reconciliation 3.0 into the fall in order to use it as a legislative vehicle during the lame duck session. In this case, it would not be treated with the urgency needed to ensure the enactment of as much of the SAVE America Act as possible.
One recent win for Americans was the enactment of a law that zeroes out the $200 tax on suppressors. These devices don’t make a gun “silent,” but rather reduce users’ exposure to muzzle blast and long-term hearing damage.
Americans can now go to a federally licensed firearms dealer and purchase a suppressor without having to pay $200 just to exercise their Second Amendment right.
Along with paying the tax, purchasers of suppressors also had to fill out the ATF’s onerous Form 4 application—until now.
Recently, Gun Owners of America and members of the firearms industry secured a landmark victory in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The court’s decision strikes down National Firearms Act registration requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other firearms. It also eliminates the requirement to complete Form 4.
Congressman Andrew Clyde, who has led the push to eliminate the $200 tax, organized a letter with nearly 50 of his House and Senate colleagues requesting that the DOJ not appeal the decision, but rather apply it nationwide.
DOJ has not appealed the decision and as of 12:01am this morning, the first lawful, unregistered suppressor, since June 26, 1934, was transferred.
Should it be applied nationwide, this landmark decision will have huge ramifications for firearms owners and for American liberty.
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