In November 2024, the American people gave you a historic mandate: to restore the Second Amendment after four long and painful years under a presidential administration that relentlessly attacked it. During that time, law-abiding gun owners across the country faced thousands of dollars in fines, the threat of prison, and arbitrary persecution — simply for exercising their constitutional rights.

I stand with Gun Owners of America in urging Congress to include two critical measures in the upcoming budget reconciliation bill:

Section 3 of the Hearing Protection Act, to protect suppressor owners in restrictive states, and

The full Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act, to eliminate unconstitutional restrictions on short-barreled firearms.

The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) imposes an unlawful $200 tax and registration mandate on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms — clear violations of the Second Amendment. The 119th Congress now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to show gun owners that Congress still stands behind them.

Last month, the House took a bold step by including Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, which would remove suppressors from the NFA. This was a major win for gun rights. Suppressors play a vital role in protecting hearing and preventing permanent hearing damage. Gun owners across the country noticed — our platforms were flooded with praise for the move. But they also made it clear: it’s not enough.

Without Section 3, suppressors — though no longer subject to NFA registration — could still be criminalized in several states that require such federal paperwork for legality. By failing to include Section 3, Congress would leave millions of law-abiding gun owners vulnerable to prosecution. I urge the Senate to fix this by including Section 3 of the Hearing Protection Act in the final bill.

I also call on you to repeal the NFA’s unconstitutional tax and registration of short-barreled firearms through the SHORT Act. The Biden administration weaponized the NFA’s barrel length provisions to justify its pistol brace rule, which criminalized the possession of up to 40 million lawfully owned pistols with equipped stabilizing braces — treating them as unregistered short-barreled rifles and turning their owners into felons overnight. Although Senate Republicans voted unanimously to block the rule during the 118th Congress, the effort fell short. Fortunately, lawsuits led by Gun Owners of America and others have temporarily stopped the ban in court.

Now, Senate Republicans have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to end this abuse permanently. Including the SHORT Act in the budget reconciliation bill would fulfill campaign promises and strike a blow against one of the most sweeping anti-gun infringements in recent memory.

I urge you to seize this moment.

Use budget reconciliation as a vehicle to remove the unconstitutional tax and registration requirements on both suppressors and short-barreled firearms — and restore the Second Amendment rights the American people elected you to defend.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Sent to:
Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, Jay Obernolte