WHEREAS: The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), a law that has long infringed upon the rights guaranteed to the American people under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS: The NFA was enacted with very little regard for the individual liberties and Constitutional protections of law-abiding citizens. Over time, this law has led to the undue regulation, taxation, and criminalization of items such as short-barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors (commonly referred to as "silencers"), and other firearms that are in common use and pose no inherent threat to public safety when possessed by responsible individuals; and

WHEREAS: The law imposes onerous registration requirements, burdensome taxes, and long wait times, all of which serve to chill the exercise of a Constitutionally protected right. Furthermore, the NFA does little to deter criminal misuse of firearms, as those with unlawful intent are unlikely to follow its provisions in the first place. The burden instead falls squarely on the shoulders of law-abiding Americans; and

WHEREAS: The NFA is outdated, overly broad, and inconsistent with both the text and the intent of the Second Amendment. Its continued enforcement creates a framework of selective and arbitrary enforcement, disproportionately affecting certain communities and placing law-abiding gun owners at legal risk for mere technicalities; and

WHEREAS: We believe in the responsible exercise of Constitutional freedoms, and we believe that true public safety is achieved through the education and empowerment of citizens -- not through laws that erode rights and criminalize non-violent conduct.

THEREFORE: We respectfully urge you to add SHORT Act language into the "Big Beautiful Bill" to remove short-barreled firearms from the NFA and DO NOT gut existing language to deregulate suppressors.