This court ruling may boost Idahoans' access to gun silencers. What to know

Sarah Cutler, Idaho Statesman on Aug 18, 2026

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BOISE, Idaho — A recent federal court ruling may make it easier for Idahoans to buy gun silencers, short-barreled rifles and other weapons — but Idaho gun rights advocates say it’s too soon to tell what the ruling will mean in practice.

The ruling invalidates parts of the National Firearms Act. Previously, people seeking to buy silencers, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns had to pay a $200 tax on those items to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, often called the ATF. They also had to submit fingerprints and a photo, and undergo a background check.

After Congress in 2025 eliminated that tax, a Texas federal judge on Aug. 5 ruled that without the tax, those other measures for extra vetting were unconstitutional. He issued an injunction to block them.

“If this plays out the way gun owners hope, it could be the biggest Second Amendment victory in nearly 100 years,” Greg Pruett, president of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, wrote to his organization’s email listserv.

Alexandria Kincaid, the alliance’s attorney, called the ruling a “major development.” She wrote in an op-ed that it could free gun owners from “an enormous burden for exercising their Second Amendment right to possess certain firearms.”

Gun regulation ruling causes ‘confusion’

But what the ruling will mean in practice remains an open question, activists said. It applies to the plaintiffs in the Texas case, including specific organizations, gun stores and state agencies.

Though Idaho joined the case as a plaintiff, “it is not as clear whether (the ruling) applies to individual Idahoans,” Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said in a statement on X.

“The ruling has caused some confusion,” he wrote.

In an email to his listserv, Pruett put it more bluntly.

“Debate is raging across the country about the chaos surrounding the National Firearms Act and what gun owners should be doing right now,” he wrote. “Opinions are flying, and the situation is changing by the hour.”

Idaho gun store owners, too, told the Statesman that the ruling had raised more questions than answers about what’s changing for gun owners.

Pruett told the Statesman he believed the Department of Justice and the ATF would issue additional guidance in the next two weeks. In the meantime, he said, many gun owners are “leery” of buying a silencer or other item covered by the ruling because they don’t trust the ATF’s enforcement approach.

The ATF’s Boise and Spokane offices did not respond to requests for comment.

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