A nearly 100-year-old federal gun law is now in the crosshairs of the Supreme Court. A new petition asks the justices to strike down a provision of the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) that imposes harsh penalties on Americans who own unregistered short-barreled rifles—guns that Second Amendment advocates argue are commonly owned and constitutionally protected.
The case centers around Jamond Rush, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for possessing an unregistered AR-15 rifle with a 7.5-inch barrel. The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action argues Rush “has been convicted of a felony… for possessing a firearm that is in common use for lawful purposes,” and accuses the Seventh Circuit Court of “continuing to flout this Court’s Second Amendment precedents.”
The NFA originally targeted Prohibition-era gangsters and introduced a slew of firearm restrictions, including a tax and registration scheme for short-barreled rifles—treating everyday gun owners like criminals. The NRA’s petition calls this outdated and unconstitutional, noting lower courts are now “adopting… conflicting approaches” in their rulings.
NRA Executive VP Doug Hamlin says the NFA “imposes burdens on law-abiding gun owners that have no grounding in the text, history, or tradition of the Second Amendment.” He added, “We’re hopeful that the Supreme Court will use this opportunity to reaffirm that right.”
If the Court takes the case, it could mark a major win for gun owners—and a blow to nearly a century of overreach.