US Senate Parliamentarian

[rtschl]

We need to contact our US Senators and ask them to overrule the parliamentarian who is gutting many things in the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) but especially related to the 2A regarding the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) and the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Act (SHORT). The Senate parliamentarian is a Harry Reid Democrat appointee. First we need Republicans to overrule the parliamentarian and later the GOP majority needs to fire her and appoint a non-political parliamentarian. The NFA in court has repeatedly been argued and affirmed as a tax, so it CAN go through the reconciliation process.

Taylor Rhodes posted on X (Twitter) below:

The Senate (and many members of the House) are becoming increasingly frustrated with the parliamentarian, upset with some of her decisions and the speed at which she is working.

Several GOP Senators have already suggested that her rulings be challenged and/or that she be fired from her post. As a reminder, the parliamentarian's rulings are advisory, not legally binding.

https://x.com/TaylorDRhodes2A/status/19 ... 6226863410

[rtschl]

From Kostas Moros on X (Twitter):

91 years ago, Attorney General Cummings argued to congress that the National Firearms Act they were considering was constitutional because it was a tax. The Supreme Court and all circuit courts have upheld it many times on those grounds, turning away Plaintiffs and criminal defendants who argued it was a regulation masquerading as a tax.

Tonight, because it was convenient to save the NFA under arcane senate reconciliation rules, the unelected Parliamentarian apparently decided that the NFA is not primarily a tax.

Fire. Her. Now.

https://x.com/MorosKostas/status/1938466108035473483

[rtschl]

According to Stephen Gutowski on X (Twitter) as of late Friday night:

It appears the provision eliminating the $200 National Firearms Act tax on silencers, short-barrel rifles and shotguns, and the "any other weapon" category has made it into the final text of the budget bill.

This would zero out the tax for those NFA items, but they would remain subject to the NFA's registration and other regulatory requirements. The Parliamentarian struck the broader attempt to delist those items just about 24 hours ago.

https://x.com/StephenGutowski/status/19 ... 3055055305

[PriestTheRunner]

When it finally makes it to the supreme court, assuming they have the gall to accept a case on the matter, all of this is going to make it very easy to show that it was regulatory in nature and not for the generation of revenue (IE what a tax must focus on legally).

We've all know it for ages, and its been proven since Hughes, but them coming out and saying it outright is ironic.

[rtschl]

So the NFA has been found Constitutional only because it is a tax. If Congress cuts the tax to zero, doesn't that imply Congress is no longer exercising it taxing authority on those items they quit taxing?

[The Annoyed Man]

So the NFA has been found Constitutional only because it is a tax. If Congress cuts the tax to zero, doesn't that imply Congress is no longer exercising it taxing authority on those items they quit taxing?

They blinked. Senator Chris Murphy realized the corner they’ve backed themselves into, and tried to add an amendment raising the $0.00 tax to $1.00, thereby preserving the congressional authority to tax.

[rtschl]

Senate Votes to Eliminate NFA Tax on Suppressors & Short-Barreled Firearms

“NRA commends the senators who voted to eliminate the burdensome NFA tax on constitutionally protected suppressors and short-barreled firearms. We urge the House to concur with the Senate’s language, pass the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, and send it to President Trump for his signature.” - John Commerford, NRA-ILA Executive Director


https://x.com/NRA/status/1940079816734118024

[Mike S]

Silly question:

Is this only going to remove the $200 tax?

Or, Will this remove suppressors & SBRs from the NFA?

[rtschl]

Silly question:

Is this only going to remove the $200 tax?

Or, Will this remove suppressors & SBRs from the NFA?

If the House keeps the changes the Senate passed, only the $200 tax is removed and would be $0.00. But there is an effort in the House to add back their language to remove entirely from the NFA. I don't have any hope that it will be successful. So a baby step in the right direction, especially for our 2A friends in blue states, if Bruen ruling would be correctly followed.

But as KC5AV notes here: viewtopic.php?p=1341277#p1341277 from today in another thread, I have too have no faith in the SCOTUS taking up the argument that it is no longer a tax. They continually refused cert for the Snope case on Maryland's ban on semi-automatic rifles. So I don't have a lot of faith in the courts to acknowledge that $0 tax is no longer a tax and nullify the NFA.