Gun owners are winning at the Justice Department and in the courts. They are not winning in Congress, and only Congress can make those wins last.
Republicans hold the House and the Senate. President Trump said on the campaign trail, “I will sign concealed carry reciprocity,” according to NSSF. The biggest federal gains of 2026 still came from judges and executive agencies. No major new Second Amendment statute has passed this year. Voters pick the next Congress on November 3. The window to turn these wins into law may be short.
What the DOJ and the courts delivered
The record is strong.
A Second Amendment Section at DOJ. In December 2025, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon created a Second Amendment Section inside the Civil Rights Division. The section treats the right to bear arms like any other civil right. Dhillon told Fox News Digital that the department has launched more than a dozen challenges to gun restrictions, including suits against California and Virginia. Other targets include Denver, the District of Columbia, and Colorado.
A working rights restoration process. Congress defunded the federal rights restoration program in 1992. The program sat idle for more than 30 years. On August 17, 2026, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a final rule that moves the process to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, which sits outside that funding restriction. The rule takes effect September 21, and the application fee is $30. Violent felons and others who pose an ongoing danger are presumptively ineligible.
A Supreme Court that is taking the right seriously. On June 25, the Court struck down Hawaii’s rule that barred permit holders from carrying onto private property open to the public without the owner’s express consent. The vote was 6 to 3. The Justice Department had urged the Court to take the case. Five days later, the Court agreed to hear two challenges to semi-automatic firearm restrictions, Viramontes and Grant.
The NFA registration ruling. This one hits close to home. Congress cut the $200 tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs to $0 in the One Big Beautiful Bill, effective January 1, 2026. A federal judge in Texas then asked a simple question. If the NFA is a tax law and the tax is zero, what holds up the registration paperwork? On August 5, Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled that the registration requirements are unconstitutional for those items. And now ATF Ends Enforcement universally.
That is a real win. It also shows the weakness.
What Congress did not deliver
Credit first. Congress did pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, and the $0 tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms came from that law. Many gun owners had written it off as impossible.
The rest of the agenda stalled.
The Hearing Protection Act and the SHORT Act. The House version of the budget bill included language to remove suppressors from the NFA. The Senate parliamentarian ruled that the language did not meet the Byrd Rule, and Senate leaders chose not to overrule her. Both bills came out. They have not returned as standalone laws.
National concealed carry reciprocity. H.R. 38 would let a person who can carry in their home state carry in any state that allows concealed carry. The House Judiciary Committee approved it 18 to 9 in March 2025. The bill went onto the Union Calendar in October 2025. It had 177 cosponsors when it cleared committee. I found no record of a House floor vote. The House did pass a version in 2017 by 231 to 198, so the votes have existed before.
Hendrix saw the gap. He wrote that “efforts to render the NFA constitutional must come from Congress, not this Court.” His ruling applies to the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. It does not repeal the NFA for everyone. Machine guns and destructive devices are untouched.
Why court wins are not enough
Court rulings and agency decisions can change. Statutes are harder to undo.
- The NFA ruling rests on tax reasoning, not on the Second Amendment. A court decision limited to named parties leaves everyone else under the old rules.
- Policy at DOJ changes with leadership. The same department that defended the NFA in court later declined to appeal. A different administration could reverse course on enforcement, on the Second Amendment Section, or on rights restoration.
- A law from Congress such as the Hearing Protection Act would help block a future administration from undoing the legal basis for the Texas ruling.
- Wolford protects permit holders on private property. It does not make a Texas license valid in New York. Only a reciprocity law or a broader court ruling does that.
The other side of the argument
Congress faces real obstacles, and fair-minded people disagree on strategy.
- Thin margins. On June 30, a House rule on the defense bill failed 198 to 224, with 14 Republicans voting no. The Speaker’s majority is narrow.
- The Senate. Most bills need 60 votes. Reconciliation avoids that threshold but brings the Byrd Rule.
- Federalism. H.R. 38 preempts most state and local laws on concealed carry. Gun control groups object to Washington overriding state rules.
- Strategy splits. Some groups pushed an all-or-nothing approach on the Hearing Protection Act. One Washington source called that approach risky overreach, and the HPA came out of the bill.
These points explain the delay. They do not explain why H.R. 38 has no floor vote after more than a year on the calendar. A recorded vote tells gun owners where each member stands.
What this means for Texas gun owners
- Do not plan around an injunction. If you buy a suppressor or short-barreled rifle, ask your dealer whether you are a covered party. State law still applies.
- Know the law outside Texas. Permitless carry in Texas does not travel with you. Check each state on your route before you cross the line.
- Call your U.S. Representative and both Senators. Ask for two things. A House floor vote on H.R. 38. Standalone action on the Hearing Protection Act and the SHORT Act.
- Ask candidates before November 3. Find out who will vote yes on H.R. 38 and who will not.
- Keep your training and paperwork current. Court rulings and new rules do not change your responsibility to know the law and handle your firearms safely.
Train hard. Train smart. Train safe.
AI assisted research and editing. Human verified and finalized.
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