Washington — The Justice Department said on Friday it will no longer enforce certain provisions of a 1934 law that was passed by Congress to regulate the types of firearms often used by mobsters, after a federal judge declared large parts of the law were unconstitutional.
The Justice Department also said its new legal guidance does not supersede state and local laws that restrict the sale of those categories of weapons, adding that because many state laws still require people to register those firearms, it will continue to process those applications voluntarily.
"Because today's NFA does not generate any revenue from untaxed firearms, its regulatory provisions cannot be upheld under the taxing power, " the judge wrote at the time.
Although the court's ruling blocking the ATF from enforcing large parts of the law only applied to the parties in the lawsuit, its wording had created challenges for prosecutors.
The Justice Department said it will no longer enforce certain provisions of a law regulating firearms often used by mobsters, after a federal judge declared large parts of it unconstitutional.