Good news for gun owners — we are a step closer to the elimination of the $200 National Firearms Act taxes on suppressors and short-barreled guns. After passage of the Big Beautiful Bill in the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee officially advanced language to fully repeal the excise taxes imposed under the National Firearms Act (NFA).
Thanks to aggressive advocacy from Gun Owners of America (GOA) and mounting grassroots pressure, the Senate’s version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” now includes full repeal of the $200 NFA tax on:
Suppressors
Short-barreled rifles (SBRs)
Short-barreled shotguns (SBSs)
“Any Other Weapons” (AOWs)
This expands the House-passed repeal of the suppressor tax. The bill next heads to the “Byrd Bath” review, where non-budgetary provisions may be stripped, but because the NFA operates primarily as a tax mechanism — given that the Supreme Court held that the NFA is primarily a tax in Sonzinky v. U.S. (1937) — GOA feels strongly that the provision ought to survive.
Erich Pratt, GOA Senior V.P., stated: “The House opened the door — now the Senate is charging through it. The American people have been forced to pay hundreds of dollars and submit to federal gun registration just to own firearms that are protected by the Second Amendment[.] This is a monumental step toward dismantling the ATF’s unconstitutional enforcement regime, and the Senate must finish the job.”
Aidan Johnston, GOA Director of Federal Affairs, added: “The Senate Finance Committee’s move to fully repeal the unconstitutional and archaic National Firearms Act tax on short-barreled firearms and suppressors is the direct result of relentless pressure from GOA’s grassroots and our lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. The government has no right to tax and register accessories like suppressors or firearms with short barrels.”
