Sponsors (6)
The bill makes less‑than‑lethal projectile devices cheaper and easier to buy and sell—benefiting manufacturers and law enforcement and increasing regulatory predictability—but at the cost of reduced federal revenue, potential public-safety risks from wider civilian availability, and possible loopholes and enforcement challenges created by broad or ambiguous exemptions.
Manufacturers, producers, and importers of qualifying less-than-lethal projectile devices no longer pay the federal firearms/ammunition excise tax (and face fewer NFA tax/stamp costs), lowering per-unit tax burdens and improving margins for small businesses in this sector.
Law enforcement agencies and civilians can more easily and quickly acquire defined less-than-lethal projectile devices (lower prices and no NFA registration/tax-stamp barriers), increasing access to non-lethal options for policing and personal defense.
Manufacturers, sellers, and regulators gain clearer regulatory rules and predictability because the Secretary must make classification decisions on a set timeline and publish annual lists, and statutory clarifications narrow uncertainty about covered items (e.g., antique firearms and specified devices).
Removing the excise tax on qualifying devices and reducing NFA registrations will lower federal revenues, which could increase deficits or reduce funding for programs financed by those taxes and fees.
Easier civilian availability and exempting more devices from NFA oversight may increase misuse and injuries from kinetic-impact devices or other less‑than‑lethal projectiles without corresponding federal safety standards, heightening public-safety risks in communities.
Broad or ambiguous definitions and cross-references (e.g., "not likely to cause death," velocity thresholds) risk creating loopholes that let more dangerous weapons qualify for exemptions, and make enforcement and prosecution harder.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced December 16, 2025 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress December 16, 2025
Creates a federal tax exemption and a narrow regulatory carve-out for specified "less-than-lethal projectile devices" and related shells/cartridges. It defines which devices qualify, requires Treasury to make and publish device classifications (including an annual public list), and amends the National Firearms Act definition to exclude these qualifying devices from NFA regulation. The law requires Treasury to decide classification requests within 90 days, maintain two public annual lists (qualified devices and devices that exceed a 500 ft/s velocity limit but would otherwise qualify), and applies the excise tax exemption to items sold by manufacturers, producers, or importers after the law takes effect.