DOJ drops NFA charge against pardoned Jan. 6 protester

Last February, NRA-ILA’s reporting exposed the case of Taylor Taranto, a pardoned Jan. 6 protestor separately arrested on firearm charges in Washington, D.C.

One of those charges alleged possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle (SBR) under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The firearm in question was a CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 with an attached SB Tactical stabilizing brace, which would not have been considered an SBR until a 2023 rulemaking by the Biden-Harris administration reclassified potentially millions of braced pistols as SBRs. By the time of Taranto’s prosecution, that rule had been vacated by a federal judge in Texas. Yet the same Biden-era U.S. attorney who had charged Taranto for his presence at the Jan. 6 protest insisted that the government could continue to prosecute Taranto under the rule’s terms as “ATF’s best understanding of the [underlying] statute.” On April 16, however, that U.S. attorney’s successor, Edward Martin, moved for dismissal of the NFA count against Taranto “in the interest of justice.”

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What this move portends for the government’s position on braced pistols generally is not immediately clear. The Biden-Harris rule, Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached “Stabilizing Braces,” remains on the books, although its enforcement is still enjoined. The government’s former position in the Taranto case, however, tried to circumvent the court rulings prohibiting enforcement of the rule by claiming ATF still had the authority and mandate to enforce the NFA itself. And if the agency’s enforcement decisions “tend[ed] to look substantially like the determinations that would follow from applying the clear framework outline in the rule,” then so be it, the government argued in a brief.

Taranto’s attorney had characterized this position in a court filing as “truly astonishing,” as well as “contradictory, unfair, and most importantly not legally sound.”

The arguments supporting the NFA charge had been raised by former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, also known for aggressive pursuit of Jan. 6 protestors, including those — like Taranto — charged with misdemeanors. Graves resigned Jan. 16, 2025, shortly before President Donald Trump took office in his second term.

Although President Trump pardoned the Jan. 6 protestors, Taranto remained in a Washington jail on the firearm-related charges. His tribulations in confinement have been extensively documented online, including his description of being confined to a cell with water seeping through the walls, resulting in continual mold growth and water on the floor. The obvious unhealthiness of these conditions, according to Taranto, is exacerbated by lack of light, long periods of confinement to the cell, lack of basic sanitation, and poor nutrition. It is unclear if Taranto will be released, as he still faces a pending felony count of carrying the CZ Scorpion in Washington without a license, as required by D.C. law.

Ironically, although the NFA charge had required the government to argue the braced CZ Scorpion was a rifle, the charge under Washington law simultaneously required it to argue the same firearm is a handgun.

The dismissal of Taranto’s NFA charge follows an April 7 announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice and ATF of a “comprehensive review of [the] stabilizing brace regulations.” This will involve “consultations with stakeholders, including gun rights organizations, industry leaders and legal experts,” with the goal of ensuring the resulting policies are “constitutional and protective of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”

The position former U.S. attorney Graves had taken in Taranto’s case with respect to the NFA charge obviously would not have survived this kind of scrutiny, and it is commendable the government appears to have recognized as much. NRA-ILA’s original reporting, and subsequent efforts by other pro-gun groups, undoubtedly contributed to this outcome.

NRA-ILA will report on further developments of the government’s ongoing review of the braced pistol rule, as well as on Taranto’s remaining charge, as they become available.

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