October 8, 2024
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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
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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