We knew that sales of suppressors and other NFA items shot up last month as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act took effect and the $200 transfer tax dropped to zero, but now we have some hard numbers courtesy of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
According to the NSSF, there were 206,871 NFA checks conducted by the ATF last month; an increase of 121.2 percent compared to the January 2025 figure of 93,518.
I'm actually a little surprised that figure isn't even higher, and I'm curious to see what the February numbers will be when they're released in early March. Is this close to the new normal, or do the January figures represent more of a one-time increase that will taper off in the months ahead.
Texas and Florida were the two states with the most NFA checks, with 26,248 and 14,264 checks respectively. There was a significant drop-off after that, with Virginia (8,874), North Carolina (8,831), and Georgia (8,661) rounding out the top five.
Sales in Virginia might have been goosed a bit by the introduction of HB 207, which would impose a new $500 tax on the sale of all suppressors in the state starting on July 1, 2026. A fiscal analysis from the Virginia Department of Taxation estimates the tax could bring in as much as $3.5 million each year, which would account for about 7,000 suppressor sales. The department has also requested that the effective date be pushed back until July 1, 2027 in order to give the department time to make the system changes required by the bill.
I don't know if the Department of Taxation is taking into account all of the suppressors that Virginia gun owners will buy before the $500 tax kicks in, but my guess is that sales will slow to a trickle if HB 207 becomes law. As of today, the bill has been assigned to the House Committee on Finance, but it has yet to be scheduled for a hearing.
The NSSF also reports that Virginia was in the top five states for NICS checks on both handguns and long guns last month; another sign that at least some Virginia gun owners are paying attention to the threat to their right to keep and bear arms posed by the new Democratic trifecta in state government.
NSSF reports 1,198,879 NICS checks on firearm transfers were conducted across the country last month, a slight decline of less than 1 percent compared to January, 2025. That's not great news for the industry, but it does indicate that the baseline for gun sales is still over 1,000,000 per month.
NSSF's Mark Oliva says the January background check figures "reinforce what many saw at the beginning of the month and was evident at SHOT Show 2026 in Las Vegas."
This is the Year of the Suppressor. Background checks for items listed under the National Firearms Act (NFA) accounted for over 206,000 checks, which is 121 percent higher than they were one year ago. That’s especially important in states like Virginia, which is facing a legislative proposal of a $500 tax on suppressor purchases. When Congress removes regulatory burdens and taxes, law-abiding gun owners respond by choosing to exercise their rights to both keep and bear arms. This only reinforces the need to for Congress to pass the Hearing Protection Act and remove unnecessary barriers to suppressor ownership.”
Removing suppressors from the NFA entirely would be a huge step forward, but given the tight margins for Republicans in both the House and Senate I'm not optimistic that the Hearing Protection Act will become law anytime soon. Still, the zeroing out of the $200 transfer tax seems to have had a significant impact last month. Let's hope those numbers remain strong going forward.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment.
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