Gun control groups are mounting a frantic push to remove language from the One Big Beautiful Bill that would repeal the taxes and registration requirements on suppressors, and they're treading all over the truth about what would happen if tha language becomes law in an attempt to frighten voters.
National Shooting Sports Foundation's Larry Keane pointed out on X.com that Everytown's latest fundraising email on the issue declares that the reconciliation bill “completely deregulates firearm silencers, also known as suppressors.” Bloomberg's group also procalims “it would make it easier than ever to get a silencer—no background check, no registration, no questions asked.”
While I'd love for that to be the case (suppressors aren't really "firearms" after all), that's not what the OBBB would do. Instead, suppressors would be treated the same as any other unrestricted firearm; in order to legally purchase one at retail, the buyer would have to fill out a Form 4473 and pass a background check.
The only element of truth to Everytown's lies is that the registration requirement would go away if the reconciliation bill is adopted with this language intact. But according to lawmakers like Rep. Andrew Clyde, the registry was meant to keep track of who paid the transfer tax, not who owns suppressors. If the tax disappears, the need for a registry goes away too.
Keane notes that Everytown isn't the only gun control group telling tall tales about the suppressor reform contained within the OBBB.
As Punchbowl News reported, Giffords released “a new poll from Senate battleground states showing that GOP efforts to make gun silencers more easily available is deeply unpopular.”
“The House Republican version of reconciliation eliminates a $200 federal tax on silencers. But according to the GIFFORDS’ poll, large majorities of voters… don’t want to see that happen and are opposed to the proposed changes,” the report states. The questions include blatantly false statements about the steps needed to legally obtain firearm suppressors if the new legislation were to be enacted.
Readers should view the poll with skepticism. There are more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese.
The blatant lie Giffords told survey respondents is a big one and was undoubtedly done to elicit responses they wanted to hear. In Question 4, respondents were asked, “If this bill to loosen regulations on gun silencers becomes law, background checks would no longer be required to purchase a gun silencer. Do you think a background check should be required to purchase a gun silencer, or not?”
That is not what the House-passed bill does at all. Background checks on firearm suppressors would not go away and, in fact, the exact opposite is true. Under the House-passed version of the bill, if a law-abiding American wanted to purchase a firearm suppressor, he or she would still be required to submit a signed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Form 4473 and be verified as not prohibited through an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check. Again, a buyer would still be required to pass an FBI background check, exactly like they must do when purchasing a firearm for which they want their suppressor. Giffords flat out lied to survey respondents.
If that foundational error wasn’t egregious enough, they do more on Question 5.
“… But Republicans in Congress… passed a bill to deregulate silencers, making them cheaper and easier for anyone to buy. Having heard this, let me ask you again: do you think making gun silencers more available to the general public is more of a good idea, or more of a bad idea?”
Once again, not just “anyone” can purchase a firearm silencer, just as not just “anyone” can legally purchase a firearm.
Democrats are already doing their best to misinform the public about suppressors; labeling them tools for terrorists and assassins, promulgating the Hollywood myth that suppressors make guns whisper quiet when they really reduce the sound of a gun shot from around 150 decibels to 120 decibels, and promoting the idea that only criminals would ever want or need one of the devices.
We need to counter these lies on multiple fronts. First, we need to provide our friends, neighbors, and co-workers with the facts to counter the anti-gun fictions being spread. We also need to be in contact with our senators to counter the phone calls and emails generated and ginned up by the gun control lobby.
I feel pretty confident that the Senate parliamentarian won't find any fault with the suppressor language in the OBBB. I'm less optimistic about the Senate adding a similar repeal of the taxation and registration requirements for short-barreled firearms, though we should be advocating for that in our outreach fo senators as well. We can't let the Senate get cold feet and keep suppressors as NFA items, and with President Trump pushing for the House and Senate to reach an agreement on the budget bill by July 4, gun owners who want access to these devices without paying hundreds of dollars more taxes and subjecting themselves to a registration scheme can't wait to make their voices heard.
