Inside The ‘Top Secret’ Plan That Led To Biggest Pro-Second Amendment Ruling In 90 Years

It was after midnight at a small-town Texas gun store. Two men — a state lawmaker and a congressional candidate — were purchasing suppressors in the presence of a congressman and top officials of a pro-Second Amendment organization.

Just hours before, the congressman learned the Trump administration would abide by one of the most consequential Second Amendment rulings in over 90 years. The men proceeded to make history, becoming the first Americans to purchase suppressors without registration since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president.

The entire story that led to this historic moment hasn’t been told. Until now.

The Daily Caller News Foundation interviewed several key players involved in making this long-sought Second Amendment victory a reality. From the halls of Congress, to the chambers of justice and finally to a Texas gun store, this is the inside account of what led to one of the most significant moments for the Second Amendment community since 1934.

“Top Secret” Plan Hatched

Gun Owners of America (GOA) Federal Affairs Director Aidan Johnston told the DCNF that the origins of the battle happened years before the group launched its “top secret” effort.

“We did a lot of behind the scenes lobbying for about six months…  all of this had to be top secret,” Johnston told the DCNF. “We didn’t want the Democrats or the anti-gunners to get any word of what we were planning on the big beautiful bill.”

Covert Classes For Congress

“GOA was locked in and we knew our chance to get something done on guns this Congress was going to have to do with taxes, and there’s only two gun taxes out there: The National Firearms Act, which is a $200 tax on silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, [any other weapons [AOWs)], machine guns, and destructive devices, and then there’s like this Pittman Robertson tax on all guns and ammunition at 10% and 11%,” Johnston told the DCNF in an interview. “And so we decided we wanted to target the silencer regulations, the silencer tax, and the short barrel stuff, especially because President [Joe] Biden had weaponized the short barrel rifle statute in order to ban millions of pistol brace weapons.”