The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in George Peterson v. United States, a case challenging the National Firearms Act's (NFA) registration and special taxation requirements for firearm suppressors.

SAF is joined in the amicus filing by the National Rifle Association, American Suppressor Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

"Suppressors are clearly 'arms' protected by the plain text of the Second Amendment, and there is no historical tradition supporting the NFA's burdensome per-arm registration and taxation scheme," said SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Kostas Moros. "History shows that the Founding generation would never have tolerated requiring every individual firearm or component to be registered with the government. These requirements burden the right to keep and bear arms and have no basis in our nation's tradition. We urge the Court to grant review and strike them down."

This case presents the High Court with an opportunity to clarify once and for all that suppressors are protected arms and to rein in unconstitutional registration and taxation schemes that treat the Second Amendment as a second-class right. The brief covers how unconstitutional registration and taxation schemes, which have no grounding in our historical tradition, have created problems far beyond the limits of just the NFA. SAF also continues to pursue its own separate challenges to the NFA in ongoing cases around the country, and this amicus brief compliments those endeavors.

"This case challenges the government's ongoing efforts to financially burden and regulate the exercise of Second Amendment rights through the NFA," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. "SAF is committed to defending the right to keep and bear arms in all its forms, including the use of suppressors for safe and effective self-defense."

For more information visit SAF.org.

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.