When the Department of Justice decided not to appeal the Jensen decision on suppressors and other NFA firearms, it was unclear how much it would affect the firearms industry.
After the Friday release of guidance by the ATF, the answer by the industry was swift and definitive; the sales of suppressors skyrocketed to a point where most manufacturers have sold out most of their near-term allotments and won’t be able to replenish stocks until Q-1 of 2027, if not longer.
“Every major manufacturer in the United States is out of inventory,” one prominent manufacturer said. “It will take us 90 to 120 days to ramp back up.
The Texas judge’s August decision pulled cans, SBRs, SBSs and AOWs out of regulation under the National Firearms Act which was passed in the 1930s, and imposed a tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and other guns.
When the Trump administration eliminated the $200 transfer tax under the Big Beautiful Bill. That, combined with drastically lower Form 4 processing times. Then Friday’s guidance applying Jensen nationwide really opened the floodgates.
Some manufacturers saw the handwriting on the wall and were prepared for the potential onslaught.
“We came in very prepared,” Andy Eff of Banish Suppressors said while exhibiting at the National Sporting Goods Wholesalers Annual Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday.
Calling his sales this week at the Expo “SUBSTANTIAL,” Banish, a South Dakota suppressor maker, will need an additional two weeks to fulfill new orders, even with manufacturing running 24 hours a day.
According to others at the NASGW Expo, it’s not just suppressors and short-barrel rifles jumping off the shelves, but also related accessories, even including cleaning kits.
I hope this follows the end of the AWB pattern.
Through the roof sales, new manufacturers, everyone pumping out as much product as possible followed by a glut and low, low fire sale prices.