October 8, 2024
    __________________________________________________________________

  Shooting suppressed is as normalized among the shooting and hunting
  community as TikTok is with Gen Z. What was a rarity as recently as a
  decade ago, it is now a normal occurrence to find a suppressor-equipped
  firearm at a local range or hunting camp.

  What is the process to legally acquire a suppressor or silencer? The
  oversimplified version is to legally buy one from a retailer and
  register it. The process is mostly straightforward but does require a
  $200 transfer tax and a significant processing and wait time. This has
  been the procedure since the National Firearms Act (NFA) was enacted in
  1934.

  For many years, the expectation was to “buy it and forget it.”
  Customers were unlikely to physically grasp their paid-in-full item for
  several months or a year. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
  Explosives (ATF) has received exponentially more Form 4s for silencers
  as their popularity has grown. Through the combined efforts of NSSF,
  the firearm industry, and ATF, however, the process has dramatically
  improved beyond anyone’s expectations.

Record Ownership

  Today, the ATF is processing suppressor applications in not only record
  time but in some instances the same day. Long gone is the wait time
  barrier and it is drawing shooters and hunters to purchase a suppressor
  who had previously dreaded long wait time to purchase one. As a result,
  silencer registration metrics are off the chart.

  The now discontinued ATF Firearms Commerce in the United States report
  displayed the number of silencers that were registered in each state.
  The [1]May 2021 edition reported 2,664,774 silencers in the U.S., more
  than doubling the 1.3 million silencers disclosed by the [2]Department
  of Justice (DOJ) in 2017.

  In a recent Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), NSSF received
  from ATF the additional number of silencers from May 2021 to July 2024.
  An incredible 2,193,123 more suppressors are protecting the hearing of
  hunters and shooters. That means a whopping 4.86 million silencers and
  counting are in possession by law-abiding Americans.

  Suppressor Chart with Suppressor Ownership by year

  To review, the NFA started requiring the registration of silencers in
  1934 and up to May 2021 had 2.66 million suppressors on the books. Now
  American gun owners are on track to exceed 87 years of registered
  silencers in just the latest three years.

What’s Next?

  The NSSF-supported [3]Hearing Protection Act, [4]H.R. 152 introduced by
  U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and [5]S. 401 introduced by U.S. Sen.
  Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), would remove silencers from the NFA, eliminate
  the $200 tax stamp and allow firearm owners to purchase a silencer,
  like any other firearm, after an FBI National Instant Criminal
  Background Check System (NICS) verification. This would allow more gun
  owners to more easily acquire a suppressor and safely reduce the report
  of their firearms to hearing-safe levels without the additional $200
  tax. Suppressors are already legal to own in 42 states and 41 states
  allow them for hunting.

  The NSSF-supported [6]Tax Stamp Revenue Transfer for Wildlife and
  Recreation Act, [7]H.R. 6352 introduced by Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah),
  offers an alternative approach. This bill would reallocate the funding
  generated from suppressor tax stamps. Fifteen percent of the revenue
  would go to the ATF’s NFA division to fund and further improve the
  processing of Form 4s. The remaining 85 percent would go to U.S. Fish
  and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and be split between the Pittman-Robertson
  Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund and a portion dedicated to recreational
  shooting range development.

  Gun ownership has skyrocketed over the past several years, including
  more than 22.3 million new first-time gun owners since 2020. Likewise,
  as millions of Americans have become more knowledgeable and familiar
  with firearms, they’ve also become more familiar with what a suppressor
  is and isn’t. Suppressors, or “silencers” as they are called in the
  law, are nothing like the way they are characterized in Hollywood
  films. They do not silence the firearm’s report. They act like a
  muffler to reduce the sound level.

  Firearm legislation is always going to divide people and face gridlock
  in Washington, D.C., and in state capitals across the country. No
  matter how logical it would be to streamline the process of purchasing
  a firearm suppressor or better allocate the tax stamp revenue, getting
  Congress to act will be a Herculean effort.

  As it has with gun ownership more broadly, the tide has turned on
  suppressor ownership, too.

  You may also be interested in:

    [8]NSSF Welcomes U.S. Senator Crapo’s Hearing Protection Act

    [9]NSSF Successfully Leads Effort to Dramatically Reduce ATF NFA
    Form Wait Times, New Data Shows
    __________________________________________________________________

  Tags: [10]H.R. 152 [11]hunting [12]Suppressors

  Categories: [13]BP Item, [14]Featured, [15]Government Relations,
  [16]Shooting, [17]Top Stories

References

  1. https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/2021-firearms-commerce-report/download
  2. https://freebeacon.com/issues/atf-despite-nearly-1-3-million-silencers-united-states-rarely-used-crimes/
  3. https://www.nssf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NSSF-factsheet-Hearing-Protection-Act-2023.pdf
  4. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr152
  5. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/401#:~:text=Introduced in Senate (02/14/2023)&text=This bill removes silencers from,of the National Firearms Act.
  6. https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-blake-moore-introduces-legislation-allocate-atf-tax-support
  7. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6352
  8. https://www.nssf.org/articles/nssf-welcomes-u-s-senator-crapos-hearing-protection-act/
  9. https://www.nssf.org/articles/nssf-successfully-leads-effort-to-dramatically-reduce-atf-nfa-form-wait-times-new-data-shows/
 10. https://www.nssf.org/articles/tag/h-r-152
 11. https://www.nssf.org/articles/tag/hunting-2
 12. https://www.nssf.org/articles/tag/suppressors
 13. https://www.nssf.org/category/bp-item
 14. https://www.nssf.org/category/featured
 15. https://www.nssf.org/category/government-relations
 16. https://www.nssf.org/category/shooting
 17. https://www.nssf.org/category/nssf-front-page

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