The National Firearms Act, chapter 53 of the Internal Revenue Code, finds its basis in U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, under which “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises….” It imposes special occupational taxes for businesses and making and transfer taxes on individual firearm transactions. It is unlawful for a person “to receive or possess a firearm which is not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record,” 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), perhaps the most typical violation.

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