As predicted, gun control organizations are frothing at the mouth over the House Ways and Means Committee's proposed budget, which zeroes out the $200 NFA tax on the purchase of suppressors. That line item remained intact through the committee's markup process that concluded Wednesday morning, though as I discussed with NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford on today's Bearing Arms' Cam & Co, there are still ongoing efforts to completely remove suppressors from the NFA through budget reconciliation.
You can check out the interview with Commerford below, but let's dive into the pearl-clutching from the likes of Brady first.
Today, Brady, the nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization, sounds the alarm on a dangerous new provision buried in President Trump’s reconciliation bill: a massive tax break for gun manufacturers. This provision eliminates the $200 transfer tax on silencers — a vital public safety measure that has existed since Congress passed the National Firearms Act (NFA) in 1934. The proposed tax break for silencers would go straight to the pockets of gun manufacturers, cost $1.5 billion in revenue over the next decade, and increase the proliferation of dangerous silencers throughout our communities.
The proposed tax break for suppressors wouldn't go into the pockets of gun makers. That $200 would stay in the bank accounts of gun owners, since the cost of the transfer tax is generally imposed on the buyer by the manufacturer or distributor. When you purchase a suppressor from Silencer Shop, for example, the company makes clear that for "each suppressor you purchase, you will need to add a suppressor tax stamp to your cart."
As for Brady's claim that nixing the tax would increase the number of "dangerous" silencers throughout the United States, by their own math there would be an estimated 7.5 million suppressors sold over the next ten years; hardly an insignificant number. And according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, as of October 2024 there were already 4.9 million legally owned suppressors in the hands of gun owners, yet suppressors are hardly ever used in crimes.
Brady also falsely claims that the House Ways & Means Committee "hid this dangerous provision in the large reconciliation bill, marked up in early morning hours, so that it can fly under the radar of the American people before they grasp its deadly consequences."
Second Amendment organizations like NRA and GOA have been publicly discussing this provision for days now. Members of Congress have tweeted about it, both in support and opposition to the measure because it doesn't go far enough in their view. Yes, the markup process continued through Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, but that was the case for other committees working on their sections of the reconciliation budget bill as well. There was no attempt to hide this provision from the American people, and it's been a hot topic on social media (at least in 2A circles) for most of this week.
Brady head Kris Brown even claimed that "this is about rewarding the gun industry and making it easier for people — including those who are dangerous and those who are allies to President Trump — to get their hands on deadly weapons and devices", calling it a "political gift" that will cost "American lives."
The provision, as stands, will make suppressor purchases more affordable, but it doesn't change anything else about the NFA process, including being fingerprinted and registering your purchase under the National Firearms Act. There's still a push to completely remove suppressors from the NFA using the reconciliation process, which will send Brown and other anti-gunners into another tizzy, but the fact is that suppressors aren't used in a lot of crimes, they don't completely negate the sound of a gunshot, and there's a clear health and safety benefit to their use. Brady doesn't have to take my word for it. Even the ATF admits as much.
Suppressors shouldn't be restricted items. They should be easily available. Heck, I think they should be sold over the counter and without a background check just like any other accessory. As much as I appreciate my gun-owning neighbors and our shared ability to shoot on our property, I'd be happy if the "boom" of my next-door neighbor's rifle was muffled a bit, and I'm pretty sure they feel the same about my own firearms when I'm shooting.
As I said yesterday, zeroing out the tax on suppressors is a good first step, but removing them from the NFA altogether is the real goal. As we've now seen, the anti-gunners are going to go nuts either way, so Republicans should do what their base is demanding and include section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act in the budget reconciliation bill. Let the gun control lobby lose their minds and save the hearing of tens of millions of Americans in the process.
