Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Department of Justice to end National Firearms Act registration of suppressors and short-barreled rifles. Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak joined the case. The complaint followed Congress zeroing the NFA tax on those items. Missouri is asking the courts to stop ATF from keeping a registry the tax no longer funds.
Sheriff Marshak is on the complaint as a plaintiff, not a bystander. He took an oath to the Constitution. After the tax went to zero, ATF still required registration of suppressors and short-barreled rifles. Missouri's lawsuit seeks to block that registration. Hanaway's office posted the complaint. The state's top law officer and a county sheriff are now aligned against a federal list with no tax attached to it.
The NFA built registration around a tax. Congress removed that tax. A registry without a tax is a roster of gun owners. The Second Amendment does not wait on ATF to rewrite forms. Hanaway and Marshak put the question in court: whether ATF may continue to register suppressors and short-barreled rifles after Congress zeroed the NFA tax.
ATF Inspections Clear Form 4473 Transfers
In a parallel break, four federal firearms licensees in different regions transferred suppressors on Form 4473 instead of Form 4. Those dealers then passed ATF industry-operations inspections. The inspections did not take the licenses down over the 4473 suppressor transfers. Field practice has already moved off the old NFA paperwork track.
Form 4473 is the standard firearm transfer record. Form 4 is the NFA application that fed the registry. SilencerCo has sold suppressors on Form 4473. Four shops in separate parts of the country completed those transfers and survived ATF inspection. Industry-operations teams reviewed the files and left the licenses standing.
The lawsuit and the inspections run the same direction. Missouri wants the NFA registry closed for suppressors and short-barreled rifles. Dealers have already transferred suppressors on Form 4473 and passed inspection. Congress zeroed the tax. ATF still holds the list. Hanaway and Marshak have asked a court to end it.
Sheriff Marshak swore an oath to the Constitution, not to a Form 4. The right to keep and bear arms does not depend on a tax stamp Congress has already reduced to zero. Missouri has put that claim before a court. The next word belongs to the bench.
References
- https://www.ammoland.com/2026/09/missouri-sues-atf-nfa-registry-suppressors-sbrs/
- https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/1-Complaint-1.pdf
- https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/09/18/why-this-missouri-sheriff-is-suing-over-the-nfa-n1233859
- https://www.ammoland.com/2026/08/ffls-pass-atf-inspections-after-transferring-suppressors-on-form-4473/
- https://popularsuppressors.com/suppressor-on-a-4473-atf-inspections/
- https://www.ammoland.com/2026/09/silencerco-form-4473-suppressor-sales/
- https://heartlandernews.com/missouri-sues-atf-doj-over-firearm-restrictions/
- https://www.myleaderpaper.com/news/jefferson-county-sheriff-dave-marshak-missouri-attorney-general-catherine-hanaway-sue-atf-over-registration-requirements/article_01181f80-0817-41cf-8a9b-5d9fca3704a0.html