Gun owners from all across the country—except, of course, for California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.—can celebrate the New Year with a bang! Or, at least a suppressed bang, that is.
After Congress passed, and President Donald Trump signed into law, the One Big, Beautiful Bill last summer, the extra $200 tax on firearm suppressors, short-barrel rifles and short-barrel shotguns is no more.
During the final few months of 2025, many suppressor companies were known to cover the tax for suppressor buyers if they chose to make their purchase ahead of January 1 and the numbers noticeably increased before the holidays.
But with the ringing in of the New Year, suppressor purchases skyrocketed as expected. All signs suggest 2026 will be the Year of the Suppressor.
Not A Typo
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives informed NSSF that on Thursday, January 1, 2026, alone, an unprecedented surge in e-Forms submissions were being processed. That total was approximately 150,000 e-Forms. For an eye-popping comparison, last year, ahead of the $200-to-$0 tax change, typical daily volume on e-Forms for suppressors, SBRs and SBSs would hover closer to around 2,500.
That’s not a typo. Americans are taking advantage of the tax reduction on National Firearms Act (NFA) items—including firearm suppressors, SBSs and SBRs—in a big, big way.
That data tracks with other data points NSSF has seen in recent years and all expectations are that growth in the number of Americans who own a suppressor will explode.
Writing in The Outdoor Wire, Editor Paul Erhardt revealed that data from the American Suppressor Association placed the number of registered firearm suppressors owned by law-abiding Americans at north of 4.4 million. It’s assumed that once the full-year 2025 figures are released, that number will top 5 million. In addition, 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 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.
“There’s little doubt that 2026 will be the Year of the Suppressor. Everything is coming together at the right time. The only question is how much growth will we see in 2026,” Erhardt wrote.
Still Work Ahead
Dropping the NFA tax on suppressors, SBRs and SBSs was a significant accomplishment and should be recognized as such. NSSF remained steadfast in support of the tax reduction during negotiations surrounding the One Big, Beautiful Bill to ensure the tax elimination was included in the final enacted bill.
But there is still plenty of work to do ahead for law-abiding gun owners and Second Amendment supporters.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill was a budget reconciliation measure, which meant it only impacted tax and fiscal issues—not legislative policy unrelated to taxes. That means that the registration and duplicative background check requirements for the purchase of a firearm suppressor, SBS or SBR remain intact for now.
NSSF remains committed to working with Second Amendment advocates and allies on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to pass the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 404/S. 364) and the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act (H.R. 2395/S. 1162) through Congress and supporting President Trump signing them into law. These bills would remove the extra NFA requirements from purchasing these lawful firearms and accessories, treating them instead as regular firearms. That means purchasers could walk into their neighborhood firearm retailer, fill out and sign the ATF Form 4473, pass the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification and walk out of the store with their suppressor, SBS or SBR. Criminals would obviously still be barred from purchasing these items, despite what lies and falsehoods gun control advocates repeat.
Celebrate The Safe Way
Firearm suppressors are safety devices—significantly lowering the noise report from a firearm to a safer decibel level. They are utilized for the safety of the marksman and for neighbors or those in close proximately to an outdoor range, for example. Lowering the cost barrier to zero for law-abiding gun owners to purchase a suppressor is great news and Americans are showing very early signs they are taking full advantage.
As the numbers continue to come into focus, both rounding out the final stretch of 2025 and the new year just beginning, it seems crystal clear that 2026 will, in fact, be the year of the suppressor.
Hear, hear!
Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
DOJ Sides With Gun Owners: California Ammo Background Checks Are Unconstitutional.
ht* tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEfzfLTRWgs
It was already ruled unconstitutional twice. In February 2024 by the Southern District of California, San Diego (but Bonta appealed the permanent injunction to the Ninth of course), and again by the Ninth in July 2025. This case has been dragged through the mud similar to how Duncan v Bonta (the standard cap mag ban) has been, as that related law was already ruled unconstitutional three times(!!) before the Ninth’s Chief Justice pulled a rare move and ordered an en banc review without any motion for one from the State of CA.
27 words that any 4th grader can understand and properly apply…somehow beyond the comprehension of Leftists.
Just trying to run the clock in hopes of a more friendly court composition.
Barrel must be threaded, right?
Expensive gunsmithing job, right?
Can’t be done on many guns, most semi-auto handguns, right?
It’s good news, a good first step, but not that big a thing.
Basically; You can buy threaded barrels for both pistol and rifle, and most you can replace yourself quickly so no gunsmith needed there. On the other hand, if you have a more traditional hunting rifle types then its not that easy on some of them to replace the barrel yourself (although it can be done) and there’s probably not a threaded barrel already made for it so you might need a gunsmith to thread it – I’m not sure though on the more traditional hunting rifles or the bolt action rifles because I would not put a suppressor on those anyway for those in my collection normally, well maybe my one of my Remington 700 models but I have a threaded barrel already I can get put on if I get the urge. If you have an AR or AK pattern rifle then the barrel is probably already threaded for a flash suppressor so you get the suppressor mount thing that screws onto that unless the suppressor is already threaded for it and you want to go direct like that.