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Kettler failed to pay a $200 tax and file ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) paperwork to register the suppressor, which he purchased from a local Army-Navy surplus store. The owner of the store, Shane Cox, was not licensed to manufacture such accessories, and was also found guilty for illegal manufacture and marketing.

Although federal law requires silencers to be registered per the NFA, Kansas state law says that all firearms, accessories and ammo manufactured and possessed inside the state are exempt from federal law.

In the petition, Kettler’s legal team explained that the 10th Circuit found that silencers are considered accessories and therefore not granted Second Amendment protection.

“Under that sweeping logic, Congress could ban all ammunition without violating the Second Amendment. That cannot be correct,” the team argued. “The panel’s sole rationale for holding that silencers were not protected was that silencers were not ‘bearable arms,’ a rationale that would apply equally to ammunition. That improper analysis warrants reversal.”