By Salam Fatohi
America’s gun buyers are quietly making a lot of noise when it comes to their shooting preferences. They are buying items regulated by the National Firearms Act in huge numbers. That includes suppressors, short-barrel rifles and short-barrel shotguns.
These figures aren’t in the hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands. The number is creeping up toward 1 million for this year alone, according to data provided to NSSF from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. And there are still seven months of purchasing data to collect this year.
That data shows over 845,000 suppressor applications have been submitted and 768,000 were approved from January through May this year. Those totals include both Form 1 applications to manufacture suppressors and Form 4 applications to possess a suppressor either as an individual or in a trust with several parties.
In fact, NSSF reported a 177 percent increase in NFA checks in June 2026 over the previous year. That number jumped to 166,677 last month compared to 60,147 last June.
The Reasons
NSSF noted in January that 2026 could be the Year of the Suppressor. That prediction is turning out to be spot-on. There are a couple reasons driving that.
Undoubtedly the One Big, Beautiful Bill, signed into law in the summer of 2025, turned an increasing interest in suppressors by gun owners into an all-out frenzy. A provision in that law, by deeming the required tax stamp as paid, in effect reduced the tax to $0 from $200.
Without the $200 tax added to the cost of each suppressor, buyers are finding it an easier investment to make. Turns out, when government gets out of the way of exercising rights, law-abiding citizens want to exercise those rights even more.
Another reason for the dramatic rise in suppressor applications is that the ATF’s NFA Division is approving them in a matter of days, not months. NSSF worked diligently starting back in 2013 to ensure that ATF’s NFA Division had the budgetary resources needed to institute electronic form processing, or eForms.
The ATF reports that current Form 1 processing times are 62 days for eForms and 33 days for paper forms. Form 4 processing times for trusts are at 25 days for both eForms and paper forms and Form 4 for individuals are at eight days for eForms and 63 days for paper forms.
Silencer Central has even more encouraging data. They are reporting that individual Form 4 applications are being approved in three days and trust applications are being approved in 19 days, on average.
Silencer Shop, likewise, reports that eForm 4 approvals are finalized within three-to-10 days, with the median wait range at four days for individuals and 23 days for a trust.
It also turns out that as more recreational marksmen and hunters become exposed to the benefits of shooting suppressed, the more they like it — and want it.
A study commissioned by NSSF, titled “Suppressor Owner Study: Market Size, Purchase Profile & Journey, Satisfaction 2025,” found the suppressor market saw a 265 percent growth in suppressor registrations from 2020 to 2024, and that during that same period, the total number of suppressors in circulation doubled. That NSSF data revealed that approximately 35 percent of the 2020–2024 suppressor purchasers were first-time buyers. Guns.com reported in March 2026 that 2010 data show roughly 285,000 registered suppressors but topped 3.5 million by 2024. The growth of silencer ownership has been exponential.
According to the ATF’s National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR), there are 6.3 million suppressors in the registry as of May 2026.
The Industry Responds
Suppressors are legal for ownership in 42 states and legal for hunting in 41. They not only reduce the noise associated with a firearm’s report or muzzle blast (to a level similar to that of a jackhammer), but they also reduce recoil and make follow-up shots more accurate. Suppressor manufacturers are responding to the spike in demand. Silencer Central, for example, recently expanded their headquarters with a new $20 million, 70,000-square-foot distribution center at their Sioux Fall, S.D. location.
The Outdoor Wire’s Paul Erhardt reported in May 2026, that FN America, Bergara and Lyman were notable manufacturers entering the suppressor market. Erhardt also noted that Silencer Shop grew to nearly 7,000 dealers, with a third of those using their kiosks to aide their customers through the application process.
NSSF continues to advocate for passage of the Hearing Protection Act, introduced as H.R. 404 in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Ben Cline (R-Va.) and as S. 364 by U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in the Senate.
The HPA would remove firearm suppressors from the NFA, eliminating onerous and duplicitous background checks. Instead, what is essentially a muffler for a gun would continue to be regulated under the 1968 Gun Control Act with the same background check that is required for a retail firearm purchase.
NSSF is also leading the way encouraging states to deregulate suppressors under state law for when Congress passes the HPA. South Dakota’s Gov. Larry Rhoden signed an NSSF-supported law removing suppressors from the state’s definition of a “controlled weapon” and eliminated the statutory requirement that possession of these devices requires a federal tax stamp. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed similar NSSF-supported law in her state in April. This legislation is needed in about 14 more states so that when the HPA is enacted state laws tethered to the NFA will not inadvertently render suppressors unlawful to possess.
If the current trend continues, the suppressor market could heat up further. The year is only half through and demand is booming. The desire to shoot quietly has never been as popular.
Salam Fatohi is the Director of Research for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
With so many purchases the wait times remain extremely low. Days or even hours.
So why did it ever take 6-12+ months?
A lot of people need to go to prison.