Florida's AG Says Short-Barreled Rifles Are Legal—For Now
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has declared that possessing a short-barreled rifle (SBR) or short-barreled shotgun (SBS) no longer violates state law. In a written memo, he told Floridians they can own these firearms without fear of prosecution under Florida Statute 790.221. That statute makes possession of SBRs, SBSs and machine guns a second-degree felony, unless an exception applies. Uthmeier's argument rests on the statute's exception for firearms lawfully owned under federal law. He contends recent federal developments have made SBRs and SBSs lawful under federal law, which brings them within that exception. The memo is the attorney general's legal interpretation. The Florida Legislature has not changed the statute's text. That distinction matters more than the headline suggests.
Key Details
The memo rests on a chain of federal actions, and each link carries weight. Here is what the record shows:
- Florida Statute 790.221 makes possession of SBRs, SBSs and machine guns a second-degree felony, subject to statutory exceptions.
- The statute excepts firearms lawfully owned and possessed under federal law.
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the making and transfer taxes on short-barreled firearms and suppressors to zero.
- A federal judge in Texas issued an injunction. The judge concluded that without the tax, Congress lacks authority to impose NFA registration on those items.
- The Department of Justice and ATF now take the position that NFA items can be bought through the same process used for non-NFA firearms.
- Uthmeier's memo interprets Florida law. It does not repeal the statute, and the Legislature has not acted.
- Congress has not repealed the National Firearms Act. The NFA remains on the books, and its tax provisions could return through new legislation.
Uthmeier wrote that his office reviewed these developments and determined that possessing an SBR or SBS under section 790.221 is no longer unlawful. The memo does not carry the force of a statute. A future attorney general could reach a different reading, and a court could too.
Background
The National Firearms Act of 1934 regulates short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, suppressors and certain other items. For decades, owners paid a $200 tax on each item and registered it with the ATF. Buyers filed paperwork and waited months for approval. Many gun owners treated that wait as the price of admission. The $200 tax had not changed since 1934, and it made NFA items expensive to acquire in real terms.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in 2025, cut that transfer tax to zero for suppressors and short-barreled firearms. Lawsuits followed, and the Texas injunction soon halted NFA registration for items that no longer carried a tax. The federal government then changed its enforcement posture. Florida's statute still contains its own prohibition, so the state's exception language became the key battleground. Uthmeier's office took the federal changes and applied them to state law. Separately, Uthmeier declined to appeal a court ruling that struck down Florida's open carry ban. That decision signaled his willingness to act on Second Amendment questions.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Florida residents who own SBRs or SBSs now have a state-level argument that possession is lawful. Anyone holding one should keep proof of how and when they acquired it. Receipts, transfer records and any ATF forms from the pre-injunction era belong in a safe place. If a traffic stop or search turns into a legal dispute, those documents will matter far more than a memo from the attorney general's office.
Owners in other states face a different picture. Many states maintain their own SBR and SBS restrictions, and Florida's memo does not bind them. Carrying an SBR across state lines without checking local law is a mistake that can cost a permit, a firearm or a felony charge. Florida gun owners should also track any federal bill that revives the NFA tax, since a new tax could change the legal basis for the current position overnight.
DownRange Analysis
The Second Amendment question here is not whether Florida can exempt SBRs from its statute. The bigger question is whether registration of an item that carries no tax survives Bruen. The Texas court's reasoning points toward a hard look at the tax-power foundation of the NFA. A registry without a revenue hook invites a challenge that the government must justify with historical analogues. That test favors gun owners, but courts have not finished the work.
The market will read this as a green light. Expect SBR and SBS demand to climb in Florida, and expect dealers to price in the risk of a reversal. Our advice is simple. Buy only through channels that follow current federal guidance. Keep every record. Do not assume a memo protects you from a future prosecutor. Contact your state legislator if you want the statute itself fixed. The durable win is a court ruling or a repeal, not a memo.
