Changes to carry law that affect travelers, each with its official sources. In the app, Pro members get an alert when a state or topic they follow changes.
ATF stops enforcing NFA approval and registration for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs and AOWs
On October 9, 2026, ATF issued an Open Letter and FAQs saying that, as a matter of enforcement discretion applied to everyone, it will no longer enforce the National Firearms Act's approval, registration, tax-stamp and related requirements for short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors and "any other weapons." The guidance follows the Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF ruling (N.D. Tex. Aug. 5, 2026) and Congress's reduction of the making and transfer taxes on these items to $0.
What changed
Effective October 9, 2026, ATF no longer requires individuals to get ATF approval under the NFA before making or transferring a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, suppressor (silencer) or "any other weapon" (26 U.S.C. 5845(e)). It also no longer requires these items to be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
For these items, ATF will not enforce the NFA's tax-stamp requirement, its bans on making, receiving, transferring or possessing unregistered items (except the bans in 26 U.S.C. 5861(h) and (k)), its ban on interstate transport of unregistered NFA firearms (26 U.S.C. 5861(j)), or its marking requirement.
The policy applies to everyone, not only the plaintiffs and others covered by the court's injunction in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, No. 6:25-cv-056 (N.D. Tex.). The Attorney General decided to apply it nationwide after announcing that the Department of Justice will not appeal the decision.
Dealer sales of SBRs and SBSs: no regulatory process yet exists to authorize them outside the NFA. ATF will not enforce the Attorney General authorization requirement in 18 U.S.C. 922(b)(4) until it issues regulations for a non-NFA approval process.
Dealers no longer need ATF approval (traditionally a Form 3) for interstate sales of suppressors and AOWs to other licensees. Form 3s may still be submitted voluntarily.
Registration becomes voluntary. ATF will keep the registry and continue to accept and approve Forms 1, 2, 3 and 4 for anyone who wants formal records, including residents of states whose laws require registration.
What didn't change
Machine guns and destructive devices: the $200 making and transfer tax remains, and all NFA requirements still apply in full.
Interstate transport of SBRs and SBSs: individuals must still file ATF Form 20 and obtain approval before transporting a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun across state lines, even if it is unregistered (18 U.S.C. 922(a)(4), a Gun Control Act requirement the court did not enjoin).
State and local laws are not affected. Most states require NFA items to comply with federal law or be registered under the NFA, and a minority prohibit most or all NFA items. ATF cannot say whether an unregistered item held under this policy counts as lawfully held or registered under state law, and advises checking with state and local authorities.
Gun Control Act requirements still apply. These items remain "firearms," and prohibited persons may not possess them. Licensed dealers must complete Form 4473, run a NICS background check, keep records, and may not sell or deliver in violation of state or local law (18 U.S.C. 922(b)(2)). Unlicensed individuals may not engage in the business or transfer these items to residents of other states or to prohibited persons.
Anyone engaged in the business of manufacturing, importing or dealing in NFA firearms must still pay the special (occupational) tax.
The NFA's bans on possessing firearms with obliterated serial numbers or firearms illegally imported into the United States are still enforced (26 U.S.C. 5861(h), (k)).
This is enforcement discretion, not a change to the statute. ATF warns that enforcement could resume if Congress imposes a new tax, the injunction is dissolved or overturned, or the Department rescinds the guidance. The NFA treats unregistered firearms as contraband, with felony penalties and forfeiture.
Federal law does not generally allow unregistered NFA items to be registered later, and it does not automatically grandfather them. Any amnesty of up to 90 days is at the Attorney General's discretion. An item removed from the registry cannot be re-registered unless the Attorney General declares an amnesty.
Safe passage: ATF says it is unclear whether state courts will apply 18 U.S.C. 926A to interstate transport of unregistered NFA items. It urges caution before carrying them through states where they are prohibited, even if they are legal at both the origin and the destination.
The district court's order does not bind other federal courts or state courts, which could reach different conclusions about the NFA's validity.
DOJ final rule sets up a process to restore federal firearm rights (18 U.S.C. 925(c))
A Department of Justice final rule published August 20, 2026 and effective September 21, 2026 sets the criteria and procedures for asking the Attorney General for relief from federal firearms disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c). DOJ is opening its Federal Firearm Rights Restoration application in stages.
What changed
Any person prohibited from possessing, shipping, transporting or receiving firearms or ammunition may apply to the Attorney General for relief from the disabilities imposed by 18 U.S.C. 922 (new 28 CFR part 107).
The Attorney General may grant relief if the applicant shows they are not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that relief would not be contrary to the public interest. The review may consider the applicant's full criminal history (including arrests and dismissed charges), drug use, protective orders, threats, mental health, input from local law enforcement, and whether denial would infringe the applicant's Second Amendment rights.
Applications are presumptively denied, absent extraordinary circumstances, for certain prior felony convictions, including offenses involving another person's death, rape or sexual assault, human trafficking, kidnapping, domestic violence, burglary, robbery, assault, stalking, terrorism, and felonies in which a firearm was brandished or discharged. Some other recent convictions, such as any felony within the last 5 years, also lead to presumptive denial for a set number of years.
Applications are also presumptively denied while the applicant is awaiting sentence, serving a sentence, in a diversion program, or currently an unlawful drug user. For this rule, marijuana-only use does not count as unlawful drug use.
DOJ charges an application fee, which may be waived or reduced for indigency. Every grant of relief is published in the Federal Register with the reasons for it.
Rollout per DOJ: the application opens to invited candidates on September 25, 2026; to the public on November 4, 2026 (first 5,000 candidates); and on January 4, 2027 to 500 more candidates, when the application fee begins.
What didn't change
Relief removes only federal firearms disabilities. It does not extend to state-law prohibitions the applicant is independently subject to (28 CFR 107.30(a)), so state law still controls state-level eligibility to possess or carry.
A person who becomes subject to a new disability after receiving relief is not covered and must reapply.
ATF narrows the definition of "unlawful user" of controlled substances
An ATF interim final rule, effective January 22, 2026, revised the definition in 27 CFR 478.11 of an "unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance," a group that 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) bars from possessing firearms. Unlawful use now requires regular use over an extended period that continues into the present.
What changed
New definition: a person who regularly uses a controlled substance over an extended period of time continuing into the present, without a lawful prescription or in a manner substantially different from that prescribed by a licensed physician, is an unlawful user.
Unlawful use requires evidence that the person used the substance with enough regularity and recency to show they are actively engaged in that conduct. A person can still be a current unlawful user even if they are not using the substance at the precise moment they acquire or possess a firearm.
A person is not an unlawful user if they have stopped regularly using the substance unlawfully, if their use is isolated or sporadic or otherwise shows no pattern of ongoing use, or if they deviate only slightly or immaterially from a lawful prescription.
A person who uses a controlled substance and shows a pattern of compulsive use, characterized by impaired control over use, is addicted.
ATF removed the regulation's former "inference of current use" examples (such as a single drug-related incident) and instead requires evidence of a pattern of unlawful use. ATF said this will prevent erroneous NICS denials.
Related later decision: on June 18, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court held in United States v. Hemani, 608 U.S. 772, that prosecuting Mr. Hemani under 922(g)(3) for keeping a gun at home, based only on his admitted marijuana use about every other day, was inconsistent with the Second Amendment. The Court called its decision narrow. It did not address bans on addicts or people who are presently intoxicated, or prosecutions backed by individualized proof that a person's drug use makes them dangerous.
What didn't change
18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) itself was not amended. Federal law still makes it unlawful for an unlawful user of or addict to a controlled substance to possess, receive, ship or transport firearms or ammunition. Hemani was decided on the facts of that prosecution and did not strike the statute from the Code.
This is an interim final rule. Comments closed June 30, 2026, and ATF said it will publish a final rule adopting it, with or without changes. As of October 18, 2026, the current eCFR text still shows the interim definition.
Florida appeals court strikes down open carry ban; Attorney General says not to enforce it
On September 10, 2025, Florida's First District Court of Appeal held in McDaniels v. State that the state's open carry ban, section 790.053, Florida Statutes, violates the Second Amendment. On September 15, 2025, Attorney General James Uthmeier advised law enforcement and prosecutors to stop arresting or prosecuting law-abiding citizens for carrying a firearm visibly.
What changed
McDaniels v. State, No. 1D2023-0533 (Fla. 1st DCA Sept. 10, 2025), reported at 419 So. 3d 1180: the court declared section 790.053 unconstitutional, reversed McDaniels's conviction and vacated his sentence. McDaniels had a Florida concealed carry license and was convicted for carrying a holstered handgun that was visible to others.
The court held that the Second Amendment protects carrying firearms openly in public, and that the State may not "extinguish the right altogether for ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizens." It added that open carry is not "absolute or immune from reasonable regulation."
The Attorney General's September 15, 2025 guidance memorandum says the decision binds all Florida trial courts because no other appellate court had ruled on the statute's validity under Bruen and Rahimi. It advises prosecutors and police to "refrain from arresting or prosecuting law-abiding citizens carrying a firearm in a manner that is visible to others."
The Attorney General's office said it would no longer defend convictions and prosecutions under section 790.053(1) in cases like McDaniels's, and that it would not file a post-decision motion (such as for rehearing) in the case.
What didn't change
Section 790.053 has not been repealed by the Legislature. It still appears, unchanged, in The 2026 Florida Statutes.
Not every appellate court accepts the AG's view. In Eubanks v. State, No. 4D2025-1698 (Fla. 4th DCA June 17, 2026), a case that did not involve an open carry charge, the Fourth District noted that a sister district's opinion is "merely persuasive." It said the AG's guidance "does not change the fact that section 790.053 is still a current statute that remains presently valid and potentially enforceable in this district."
Places where carrying a firearm, open or concealed, is not authorized under section 790.06(12)(a), Florida Statutes, are unaffected, according to the Attorney General.
Private property owners may still order armed people to leave. According to the AG, staying after being warned to leave is armed trespass, a third-degree felony (s. 810.08(2)(c)).
Exhibiting a firearm "in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner" in public remains a crime (s. 790.10), and the decision does not affect the ban on felons possessing firearms.