In orders issued Monday morning, the Surpreme Court denied the petitions for hearing of a pair of cases involving gun “silencers” — or suppressors — amid a national debate about whether the firearm accessory should be banned.
The cases of Cox v. United States and Kettler v. United States had to do with the National Firearms Act, which was first passed in 1934. The NFA does not ban suppressors, but it does create substantial bureaucratic and financial barriers to transferring them, such as filing paperwork with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and paying $200 for a tax stamp.
Shane Cox manufactured suppressors and sold them unregistered out of his army surplus store. Jeremey Kettler — a disabled Army veteran — bought one of those suppressors and then posted a video of it on social media. After that social media post some drew suspicion from ATF, Kettler was questioned about the purchase and charged with three felonies, including possession of an unregistered firearm. Cox was also charged under the NFA.
Kettler’s lawyers later argued that he thought the “purchase, possession, and use of such a suppressor was entirely lawful.” Both were later convicted under the federal statute. – READ MORE