On January 1st, 2026, the $200 tax stamp fee associated with purchasing a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun or suppressor was eliminated. This event, coupled with the introduction of online processing of Form 4 applications and easy-to-use kiosks for the fingerprints and paperwork associated with buying these NFA items has led to record sales of suppressors and short-barreled firearms.
More and more Americans are discovering the joys of quieter, easier-to-handle guns, and that’s a very good thing.
However, two things that are currently missing from the post January buying frenzy is more interest in integrally suppressed firearms and so-called “two stamp” guns…short-barreled firearms with integral suppressors.
On one hand, I can understand why these kinds of guns haven’t shown up on gun stores shelves. Suppressors are less expensive and easier to obtain than ever before. As a result, companies that make suppressors are selling everything they have in stock, and more companies are entering the market in order to fulfill demand.
We are in the midst of an historic rush on suppressors that’s similar to 2004’s rush on AR-15s and standard capacity magazines, the buying frenzy that preceded the 2008 election, or the sheer madness of the early COVID-era gun market. Suppressor manufacturers are running full-throttle just to keep up with demand, so when everything you’re currently making is selling like hotcakes, rolling out new product lines takes a back seat.
Concurrent with this is a thriving “retro” firearms market. Guns like the Lipsey’s Gen 1 GLOCK G17, Springfield Armory’s SA-35 pistol and the ever-expanding retro AR-15 market feed this need, as do MP5 clones like the Zenith ZF-5, the Military Armament MAC 5 and similar guns.
What’s missing, though, is a clone of the iconic integrally suppressed MP5SD, beloved by special ops units and the object of affection for a generation of video gamer players.
Yes, there are guns out there from Century Arms and Palmetto State Armory which allow you to mimic the look of an MP5SD with your own suppressor, but the point of the retro market is to get your gun as close the original specs as possible, and an add-on can just doesn’t scratch that niche.
The MP5SD is popular because the special ops units of the world figured out that a small, easy to manage, pistol-caliber carbine is terrific for close quarters environments, especially when used with a suppressor. These same features also make this type of firearm a really attractive option for home defense.
A suppressed, short-barreled pistol caliber carbine offers the user lower recoil, more accuracy and more magazine choices than a defensive pistol, and when you combine those features with the increased safety of a suppressed firearm, that’s hard to beat. However, a cursory glance around the interweb shows that right now, there’s the KelTec SUB CQB out there along with guns from Angstadt Arms and Spike’s Tactical…and not a lot more.
The current mania for suppressors will eventually cool down as the demand and the supply reach some sort of equilibrium. What follows will be the search for the next cool thing in guns. And with two stamps now costing nothing (you’ll still need to fill out the NFA paperwork, though), integrally suppressed firearms will be ready and waiting for their turn in the spotlight.
My brother has a Vanquish Integrally Suppressed 9mm SBR. I’ve used it, really like it.