SHORT Act

Summary

Amends federal firearm definitions, taxes, and enforcement rules so that certain short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other NFA-classified weapons are treated differently under federal law, removes a small transfer tax for a category of weapons, and makes federal compliance substitute for state or local registration or licensing for those weapons. It also expands federal preemption to block many state and local taxes and marking/registration rules for those weapons and requires the Attorney General to destroy specified National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) records within one year.

• Changes NFA and tax code definitions to alter which weapons are treated as destructive devices and deletes a $5 transfer-tax exception for the "any other weapon" category.
• Declares that federal compliance with NFA requirements for certain weapons satisfies any State or local registration or licensing requirement for those weapons.
• Preempts state and local taxes (other than general sales/use taxes) and marking/registration/recordkeeping rules for specified NFA weapons that affect interstate or foreign commerce.
• Requires the Attorney General to destroy specified NFRTR registration and application records identifying makers and transferees of certain weapons within 365 days.
• Edits criminal statute language in 18 U.S.C. §922 to remove separate enumerations of short-barreled shotguns and rifles and to broaden two uses of the word "device."
• No new appropriations are included; the measure changes statutory definitions, preemption, and record-retention policy instead of funding programs.
• Likely to reduce state and local regulatory authority over the affected NFA weapons and to limit availability of historic federal registration/transfer records.
• Creates potential operational impacts for DOJ/ATF (record destruction) and for state/local authorities who previously enforced registration, marking, or taxation rules.