I've been watching this one, as it is an anti-NFA bellwether.
The great part about this case is that NFA and GCA classify silencers/suppressors as firearms legally.
The ATF is arguing that they are actually not firearms, only firearms accessories and can be regulated and infringed upon as such.
So, the ATF is arguing a position counter to the law that they are supposed to enforce.
Remember that the NFA is far more of an infringement today, as the standard issue rifle for "tip-of-the-spear" guys is a full auto SBR with a supressor.........a 3x NFA item.
I honestly wish that the NFA tax stamp would be challenged as an onerous and capricious tax.
$200 isn't that much today, but it was 20x the price of a "gun muffler" from 1934 and 4x more than a Thompson SMG from a Sears catalog.
Mind you, the median yearly income in 1934 was $1419.
NFA 1934 was passed as a classist attempt to disarm the populace of the most effective weapons of the day.
Who could spend 1/7th of their yearly income on a tax for a weapon, and additionally buy the weapon?
Now that the ATF has effectively closed the Form 1 suppressor creation, this case matters even more.
Apparently the ATF says that you must know what you are going to turn into an NFA item, and they want specifics and pictures to Form 1 it.......but ATF also says that if you have a kit or pieces that you want to turn into a suppressor, that you are guilty of constructive possession.
Anything to go after law-abiding gun owners that ask permission and believe in the system, rather than the G-switched gangbangers that would kill them in Ciraq (and the little Chiraqs that are popping up all over the country).
This is similar to the auto-key card case that just got a guilty verdict (for selling the picture of an out of spec, unusable lighting link that was laser etched on a metal business card).