As most GAT readers know, President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, signed last July 4, took effect on January 1 of this year. That means that while purchasers still have to jump through a few hoops to buy a suppressor, a short-barreled (SBR), or a short-barreled shotgun (SBS), they no longer have to pay the $200 tax that was previously required under the National Firearms Act (NFA).
A Big Deal?
“So?” you might ask. “What’s the big deal? All are still very expensive, and saving $200 isn’t really all that much.”
If that sounds like your sentiment, you might be surprised to find out that hundreds of thousands of people disagree with you and have already taken advantage of the dropped tax. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade association, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) experienced an “unprecedented surge” in NFA applications on January 1.
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According to the NSSF, the ATF processed about 150,000 online applications on that day alone, compared to a typical daily volume of around 2,500. That’s a whopping 5,900% increase!
Of course, the tax on suppressors and other NFA items was never meant to be simply a tax. Back in 1934, when the NFA was created, $200 was a lot more money than it is today. The tax was simply to make it so that fewer people could afford a suppressor.
Congress and the president removing the tax also didn’t really have much to do with taxes. It had more to do with deregulating products that never should have been regulated in the first place.
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What’s The Future Hold
Of course, some people are likely waiting to see if suppressors become entirely deregulated, as many groups are currently advocating.
On Independence Day—just hours after President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law without fully deregulating silencers and other NFA items—the Silencer Shop Foundation filed a groundbreaking federal lawsuit against the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF, known as the “One Big Beautiful Lawsuit,” directly challenges the constitutionality of the NFA as it pertains to silencers and other restricted items.
Other plaintiffs in the case include Gun Owners of America (GOA), Gun Owners of America Foundation (GOAF), Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, B&T USA, Palmetto State Armory, SilencerCo Weapons Research, the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), and one individual.
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“With the tax reduced to zero, the ‘justification’ for the NFA—being a revenue-producing tax—has been completely eliminated,” Dave Matheny, president of Silencer Shop, explained to me in an interview late last year. “The law’s only effect is to create burdensome regulations, slow approval times, and a federal registry of law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise their rights. In plain terms, if the NFA no longer serves as a tax or revenue function, it is nothing more than a restriction and registration scheme.”
One word of caution for those waiting for the NFA to be completely disbanded to buy their suppressor: the American justice system works slowly. This lawsuit could be tied up in court for years. If you really want a suppressor, go ahead and get one. You can use the $200 you saved on the tax to buy more ammo!
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