Sponsors (35)
Official title: Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove silencers from the definition of firearms, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 3, 2025 by Michael Dean Crapo · Last progress February 3, 2025
The bill reduces federal registration and some business-state burdens and raises federal excise revenue—benefiting lawful owners and manufacturers through lower duplication and clearer tax treatment—while substantially weakening federal/state tracing and oversight of silencers, which could heighten public-safety risks and shift costs and regulatory burdens in unpredictable ways.
Lawful silencer owners and purchasers: no longer subject to NFA transfer taxes and duplicative federal NFA registration, reducing direct out-of-pocket costs and paperwork for individuals who buy or possess silencers.
Manufacturers, dealers, and interstate sellers: fewer overlapping marking, recordkeeping, and state-level registration/tax rules and an explicit variance process for marking when impractical, lowering compliance burden and legal uncertainty for businesses that operate across state lines.
Individuals transporting or buying silencers across state lines: clarity that states/localities cannot impose extra taxes or registration on silencers in interstate or foreign commerce, simplifying lawful commerce and reducing exposure to local penalties.
General public and public-safety responders: removing NFA registration/transfer controls and preempting state/local registration makes silencers easier to acquire without NFA-era controls, increasing the risk that criminals could obtain and use silencers to conceal gunfire.
Law enforcement agencies and criminal investigators: loss of centralized federal NFA/NFRTR records and elimination of some state/local marking/registration authority will reduce investigative and tracing tools, hindering firearms-related crime investigations.
Manufacturers, importers, and consumers: new marking requirements (engraving/casting/variance processes) and a 10% excise tax increase production and compliance costs, which are likely to be passed on to consumers as higher prices.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Creates a uniform federal regime for silencers: removes them from one Code definition of “firearm,” deems Title 18 compliance to satisfy NFA rules, preempts many state/local silencer taxes/registration, destroys federal silencer records, updates definitions/marking, and adds a 10% excise tax.
Removes firearm silencers from the Internal Revenue Code definition of “firearm,” treats compliance with Title 18 (federal NFA procedures) as satisfying National Firearms Act registration requirements for silencers, preempts many state/local taxes and marking/registration rules on silencers that affect interstate commerce, requires the Attorney General to destroy federal silencer registration/transfer/maker records, updates federal definitions and marking rules for silencers and mufflers, and imposes a 10% federal excise tax category on silencers and mufflers. Some provisions take effect more than 90 days after enactment; the Attorney General must destroy records within 365 days.