Gun Control

A Gun Ruling Highlights the Tricks Congress Uses To Evade Limits on Its Power

During the last century, the Commerce Clause has replaced the Taxing Clause as an excuse for federal legislation.

Jacob Sullum | 8.12.2026 12:01 AM

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Second Amendment groups applauded last week after a federal judge in Texas ruled that several national firearm regulations were unconstitutional. But the decision did not hinge on gun rights. Rather, it affirmed a broader principle: The federal government's powers are limited to those explicitly granted by the Constitution.

The case involved the National Firearms Act (NFA), a 1934 law that targeted weapons and accessories thought to be favored by criminals. Because that law was framed as a revenue measure, U.S. District Judge James Hendrix held, Congress fatally undermined the constitutional rationale for some of its provisions by eliminating the federal taxes on making and transferring sound suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns.

Congress did that last year, when it approved a law that retained the NFA's taxes on machine guns and "destructive devices" such as........

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