Oct 10, 2026

Daniel Klapper Esq. & Menachem Langer Esq.

Executive Summary:  Effective October 9, 2026, ATF stopped enforcing National Firearms Act (NFA) approval and registration requirements nationwide for short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), silencers, and certain “any other weapons” (AOWs), following the Northern District of Texas ruling in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF and the 2025 law that cut the NFA tax on these items to $0. The relief is real but fragile: it is an enforcement policy, not a repeal, and the Gun Control Act (GCA), state law, and all NFA rules for machine guns still apply. Because ATF promises no grandfathering if enforcement resumes, clients should act deliberately rather than quickly.

Key ChangesWhat it is. This is an ATF open letter and FAQ from Director Robert Cekada dated October 9, 2026. It is guidance, not a regulation. It extends to everyone a court injunction that protects only the plaintiffs.What ATF will no longer enforce for SBRs, SBSs, silencers, and covered AOWs:

• Prior approval to make (Form 1) or transfer (Forms 3 and 4)
• Registration in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, including the 24-hour registration rule for businesses
• NFA marking requirements
• The NFA ban on moving unregistered items across state lines (26 U.S.C. § 5861(j))

What still applies:

• GCA rules. These remain firearms under federal law. Dealers still run a Form 4473 and a NICS check, keep acquisition and disposition records, sell only to in-state residents, and may not sell in violation of state or local law (18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(2)).
• SBR/SBS travel. A Form 5320.20 is still required to move an SBR or SBS across state lines (18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(4)), even if it is unregistered.
• Special occupational tax (SOT). It still applies to anyone in the business of making, importing, or dealing in NFA items.
• Machine guns and destructive devices. The $200 tax and every NFA requirement still apply.
• Serial numbers and imports. Obliterated serial numbers and illegally imported items remain NFA crimes (§ 5861(h), (k)).

Key definitions. A short-barreled rifle has a barrel under 16 inches or an overall length under 26 inches. A short-barreled shotgun has a barrel under 18 inches or an overall length under 26 inches. A silencer includes any device, or any part intended only for such a device, for muffling a portable firearm’s report. An AOW is a concealable weapon, such as a pen or cane gun, within 26 U.S.C. § 5845(e).

How it differs from before. Since January 1, 2026, the tax on these items has been $0, but ATF approval, fingerprints, waiting periods, and federal registration were still required. Those steps are now optional. ATF will still accept Forms 1 through 4 if a client chooses to file voluntarily.

Penalties. Today, the main exposure comes from GCA violations, which are generally felonies (18 U.S.C. § 924(a)), FFL license revocation, and state law. If NFA enforcement resumes, ATF says unregistered items will be treated as contraband. That means felony exposure of up to 10 years (26 U.S.C. § 5871) and forfeiture. Items generally cannot be registered after the fact unless the Attorney General declares an amnesty.

Who Is Affected

• Individuals who own, buy, or make SBRs, SBSs, silencers, or AOWs, including anyone with a pending Form 1 or Form 4.
• FFL dealers. Where state law allows, they may now transfer covered silencers and AOWs with only a 4473 and a NICS check. Dealer SBR/SBS sales remain a gray area. 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(4) is unenforced pending new ATF rules, but it has not been repealed.
• SOT holders and manufacturers. SOT-to-SOT transfers no longer need Form 3 approval. Silencer manufacturers face an ITAR registration deadline.
• Residents of restrictive states. About nine jurisdictions ban silencers outright, and others tie legality to federal registration. ATF cannot predict how states will treat unregistered items, and the safe-passage protection of 18 U.S.C. § 926A may not apply.

Compliance Timeline

Individuals and dealers face no new filing deadline. The risk is the reverse: ATF names three ways enforcement could resume, with little notice. Congress could reimpose a tax, the injunction could be overturned or dissolved, or DOJ could rescind the guidance.

Action ItemsFor individuals

1. Check state and local law first. Federal relief does not make an item legal in your state.
2. Weigh voluntary registration. A $0 Form 1 or Form 4 is the strongest protection if enforcement resumes. Do not withdraw items that are registered or applications that are pending (NFAFAX@atf.gov) without advice, because ATF says withdrawn items generally cannot be re-registered.
3. Keep filing Form 5320.20 before taking an SBR or SBS across state lines. Avoid traveling through states that ban the item.
4. Keep proof of acquisition, such as receipts and dealer paperwork, for every covered item.

For FFL dealers and SOTs

1. Adopt a written transfer policy that states, for each state you sell into, whether you will use the 4473-only process or keep filing Form 4s.
2. Hold 4473-only SBR/SBS sales until counsel signs off.
3. Keep your SOT current and your acquisition and disposition records complete for every covered item, registered or not.
4. Remove items from NFA inventory only deliberately, through NFAFAX@atf.gov, and keep written confirmation.
5. Tell customers in writing that this relief could be reversed, and never rely on a customer’s word about their state’s law.
6. Silencer manufacturers: confirm ITAR registration before November 20, 2026.

Questions to ATF: fipb@atf.gov. This alert is general information current as of October 10, 2026, not legal advice for any specific situation.Sources

• ATF – Update to NFA Transfer Guidance (open letter and FAQ)
• ATF Open Letter, October 9, 2026
• The Reload – ATF Gives Go Ahead for Unregistered Silencer, Short-Barrel Shotgun Purchases

The most expensive legal problems in a new business usually start as questions nobody asked. When we sit down with owners after something has gone wrong, we hear the same refrain: "I wish I'd known to ask about that before I started."Here are five of those questions, and why each one is worth an hour of a lawyer's time before you open your doors.

1. "Does my LLC actually protect me, and how could I lose that protection?"

Forming an LLC or corporation is an important first step, but it is not a force field. How you run the business afterward matters as much as the paperwork you filed.Owners most often weaken their own protection by:

• Mixing personal and business money in the same accounts
• Starting the business with too little capital to cover foreseeable obligations
• Signing contracts in their own name instead of the company's
• Personally guaranteeing the lease, the bank loan, or the line of credit

That last one surprises people most. A personal guarantee makes you individually responsible for that debt, no matter how carefully you formed the company. Some guarantees can be limited or negotiated, but only if you raise it before you sign.

2. "What happens if my co-founder and I split up, or one of us dies?"

Many partnerships start on a handshake and trust. That works until a partner wants out, stops pulling their weight, gets divorced, or passes away. Without a written agreement, state default rules decide, and those rules rarely match what the founders would have chosen.A well-drafted operating agreement or partnership agreement should answer:

• How a departing owner's share is valued and paid out
• Whether founders earn their ownership over time (vesting) or own it all on day one
• How decisions get made, and what happens when owners deadlock, especially in a 50/50 split
• What happens to an owner's interest on death, disability, or divorce
• Who can sign contracts, borrow money, and access the bank accounts

These conversations are much easier, and much cheaper, while everyone still gets along.

3. "Do I actually own my name, my logo, and the work people did for me?"

Registering your business name with the state does not give you trademark rights in it. Owners sometimes spend years building a brand, then receive a cease-and-desist letter from a company that used a similar name first. A trademark clearance search before you print signs, build a website, or order inventory costs far less than a forced rebrand.The second surprise involves work you paid for. Many owners assume that if they paid a freelancer for a logo, website, or software, they own it. Under U.S. copyright law, that is often not automatically true for independent contractors. Without a written agreement assigning the rights to your company, the creator may still own the work.The fix is simple: get IP assignment language into your contractor agreements, and make sure each founder assigns to the company anything they created for the business before it was formed.

4. "What am I really agreeing to in this lease or contract?"

A commercial lease is often the largest financial commitment a new business makes, and it is usually drafted to favor the landlord. First-time owners tend to focus on monthly rent and miss the terms that cost more over time.Before signing a lease, look closely at:

• Personal guarantees, and whether they can be capped or phased out
• Common area maintenance (CAM) charges and other pass-through costs that can rise year to year
• Assignment and subletting limits, which can block you from selling the business later
• Relocation, renewal, and early-termination clauses
• Who pays for build-out and repairs

The same care applies to franchise agreements, equipment leases, software subscriptions, and vendor contracts. Auto-renewal provisions, exclusivity clauses, and one-sided termination rights are easy to miss and hard to undo.

5. "Should the people working for me be employees or contractors?"

Calling someone an independent contractor doesn't make them one. Government agencies and courts look at the actual working relationship, including how much control you have over when, where, and how the work is done. Getting it wrong can mean back payroll taxes, penalties, and unpaid overtime claims.Before your first hire, it's also worth asking:

• Which written policies and onboarding documents you need
• Whether a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement would actually be enforceable in your state, since the rules vary widely
• How to protect confidential information and client relationships when someone leaves

A short conversation before you hire is far cheaper than defending a wage claim after someone quits.

Ask before you sign, not after

None of these questions takes long to answer at the start. Each one can take months, and a lot of money, to fix later. If you're starting a business or realize you skipped some of these steps, Langer Law Group can help you put the right foundation in place. 

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by state and change over time, so consult an attorney about your specific situation.

Starting a business involves more than filing paperwork, and the order you do things in matters. Choose a name before checking trademarks, or sign a lease before your company exists, and you may spend months undoing it.Here is the sequence we walk our clients through, with the legal decisions that come up at each step.

Step 1: Test the idea and write a simple plan

Before spending money on formation and branding, make sure the business can work. A plan doesn't need to be a 40-page document. It should answer who your customers are, what you'll charge, what it will cost to get started, and how long you can operate before turning a profit.From a legal standpoint, this is also the time to ask whether your industry is regulated. Health care, food service, alcohol, child care, financial services, and construction, among others, often require licenses or approvals that affect your timeline and startup costs.

Step 2: Choose a business structure

Your structure affects your personal liability, your taxes, and how easily you can bring in partners or investors. The most common options are:

• Sole proprietorship or general partnership. Simple to start, but the owners are personally responsible for the business's debts.
• Limited liability company (LLC). Flexible and popular with small businesses. It offers liability protection and several tax options.
• Corporation. Often preferred by businesses planning to raise outside investment or issue stock to employees.

Licensed professionals such as lawyers, physicians, and accountants may face extra rules about which entity types they can use. Tax treatment is a separate choice from legal structure. An LLC, for example, can elect to be taxed as an S corporation, so involve your accountant in this decision too.

Step 3: Choose a name, and make sure you can use it

A name being available at the Secretary of State only means no other entity in that state is registered under it. It doesn't mean you can use it as a brand. Another business may already hold trademark rights to the same or a confusingly similar name.Before committing, run a trademark clearance search, check domain names and social media handles, and consider registering the trademark if the brand will be valuable. If you plan to operate under a name different from your entity's legal name, you'll generally need to file an assumed name ("DBA") certificate.

Step 4: Form the entity

In Texas, LLCs and corporations are created by filing a certificate of formation with the Secretary of State. You'll need to name a registered agent, a person or company with a Texas address who agrees to receive legal papers on the business's behalf.Form the entity before you sign a lease, open accounts, or take on customers. Contracts signed in your own name before the company exists can leave you personally responsible for them.

Step 5: Put the owners' agreement in writing

The state filing creates the company. The operating agreement (for an LLC) or bylaws and shareholder agreement (for a corporation) set the rules for how it runs. This is true even for a single-owner business, where the agreement helps show the company is separate from you.With more than one owner, the agreement should cover ownership percentages, who contributes what, how decisions are made, how deadlocks get resolved, and what happens when an owner leaves, becomes disabled, or dies. It's also the right moment to have each founder assign to the company any intellectual property they created for the business.

Step 6: Get an EIN and open a separate bank account

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS is your business's federal tax ID. Most banks require one to open a business account, and you'll need it to hire employees. The IRS issues EINs free of charge.Once you have it, open a business bank account and run every business dollar through it. Keeping personal and business funds separate is one of the simplest ways to protect the liability shield your entity provides, and it makes bookkeeping and tax time far easier.

Step 7: Register for taxes and get your licenses and permits

Requirements depend on what you sell and where you operate. Common ones include:

• Sales and use tax permit from the Texas Comptroller, if you sell taxable goods or services
• Texas franchise tax registration and reporting, which applies to most LLCs and corporations
• Professional or occupational licenses for regulated fields
• City and county permits, such as certificates of occupancy, health permits, signage permits, and zoning approval for your location

Check zoning before you sign a lease. A space that isn't zoned for your use can stall your opening indefinitely.

Step 8: Get your contracts and insurance in place

Before you open, have the core documents ready:

• Commercial lease, reviewed for personal guarantees, pass-through costs, and assignment limits
• Customer agreements or terms of service that set out payment terms, scope of work, and limits on your liability
• Contractor and vendor agreements, including IP assignment and confidentiality terms
• Website privacy policy and terms of use, if you collect customer information online

Insurance is your second layer of protection. Depending on your business, consider general liability, professional liability, property, cyber, and commercial auto coverage. An entity protects your personal assets; insurance protects the business's.

Step 9: Prepare to hire, and stay compliant

Before bringing on your first team member, decide whether they'll be an employee or an independent contractor. That decision turns on how the work is actually done, not on the title you choose. Employees also bring payroll tax withholding, new-hire reporting, and Texas unemployment tax registration. Texas lets most private employers decide whether to carry workers' compensation coverage, but opting out has real legal consequences, so make that choice deliberately.Starting the business is a one-time event; staying in good standing is ongoing. Keep a calendar for franchise tax reports, license renewals, permit renewals, and registered agent updates. Missing state filings can result in your entity losing its good standing or being forfeited.

Build it right from the start

Every business is different, and the right order and details depend on your industry, your partners, and your plans for growth. Langer Law Group helps new business owners work through each of these steps so they can focus on running the business. 

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws, fees, and filing requirements change over time, so consult an attorney about your specific situation.

Great products and hard work get a business off the ground. What keeps it growing is often less glamorous: clear agreements, clean finances, and problems handled before they become crises.These ten rules come from what we see in our practice, both in the businesses that thrive and in the ones that come to us after something has gone wrong.

Rule 1: Keep the business separate from you

Your company should have its own bank accounts, its own contracts, and its own records. Paying personal bills from the business account, or business bills from your personal card, blurs the line that protects your personal assets. It also makes your books harder for lenders, investors, and buyers to trust.Successful owners treat the business as a separate entity from the start, even when they own 100% of it.

Rule 2: If it matters, put it in writing

Handshake deals feel efficient until two people remember them differently. Partnerships, key customer relationships, vendor arrangements, and promises to employees all deserve written terms.A written agreement doesn't signal distrust. It makes sure everyone agrees on the same deal, and it gives you something to rely on when memories fade or people change.

Rule 3: Protect your brand and ideas early

As a business grows, its name, reputation, and know-how often become its most valuable assets. Clear your brand name before you invest in it, register trademarks worth protecting, and make sure everyone who creates work for you, including founders and contractors, signs it over to the company in writing.Protect confidential information too. Customer lists, pricing, and processes are easier to safeguard with confidentiality agreements than to recover after they walk out the door.

Rule 4: Never sign what you don't understand

Leases, loan documents, franchise agreements, and vendor contracts are usually written by the other side to protect the other side. Personal guarantees, automatic renewals, exclusivity clauses, and one-sided termination rights can follow a business for years.Read every contract before you sign it, ask about anything unclear, and remember that most terms are more negotiable than they look.

Rule 5: Know your numbers, and make sure you get paid

A business can be profitable on paper and still run out of cash. Track your cash flow, not just your revenue, and work with an accountant who understands your industry.Getting paid starts before the work does. Clear payment terms, deposits or retainers where appropriate, late-payment provisions, and a consistent collections process all reduce the chance of chasing unpaid invoices later.

Rule 6: Hire carefully, and document everything

Your people can be your greatest asset or your biggest source of risk. Classify workers correctly as employees or contractors, put expectations in writing, and keep consistent policies through an employee handbook.When problems come up, document them promptly and factually. A clear record of performance issues and how they were addressed is one of the best defenses if an employment decision is challenged later.

Rule 7: Make compliance a routine, not an emergency

Annual state reports, tax filings, license renewals, and permit deadlines are easy to forget when you're busy running the business. Missing them can cost you penalties, your good standing, or even the right to operate.Keep a compliance calendar, assign someone to own it, and review it every quarter. It's one of the least exciting habits on this list and one of the most valuable.

Rule 8: Plan for disputes before they happen

Every business eventually faces a disagreement with a customer, vendor, partner, or employee. The businesses that handle them best have already decided how disputes will be resolved: which state's law applies, where claims are heard, and whether mediation or arbitration comes first.When a dispute does arise, keep communications professional and in writing, preserve relevant records, and never ignore a demand letter or lawsuit. Early, measured responses usually cost far less than late ones.

Rule 9: Build a team of trusted advisors

No owner can be an expert in everything. The most successful businesses we work with lean on a small group of advisors: an attorney, an accountant, a banker, and an insurance professional who know the business and talk to each other.Bring them in early and keep them informed. An advisor who already understands your business can spot problems sooner and help you move faster when opportunities come up.

Rule 10: Plan your exit from day one

Whether you hope to sell the business, pass it to family, or bring in new partners, the time to plan is long before you're ready to leave. Buy-sell provisions, succession plans, and clean, well-organized records all make a business easier to value and transfer.A business that could be sold tomorrow, with clear contracts, documented processes, and no hidden liabilities, is usually also a business that runs better today.

Success is built on a strong foundation

No set of rules guarantees success, but a strong legal and financial foundation gives a good business room to grow. Langer Law Group works with business owners at every stage, from formation through growth and transition. This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. 

Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every business's situation is different, so consult an attorney about yours.