The Jig is Up: Everytown Has Figured Out That Eliminating the $200 Transfer Tax is Just the Latest Step Toward Eliminating the NFA Completely

For over 90 years, the NFA has required that anyone interested in buying or building one of these weapons first submit an application to the ATF along with their fingerprints, a passport-style photo, and a $200 tax stamp before undergoing an enhanced background check. As the ATF notes, the $200 tax was “considered quite severe” in 1934 “to carry out Congress’ purpose to discourage or eliminate transactions in these firearms,” though it was never raised or adjusted to account for inflation. In today’s dollars, the figure would be well over $4,700.

But after January 1, 2026, those taxes will no longer be required for silencers, short-barreled firearms, or AOWs, making them significantly easier to obtain — jeopardizing public safety and resulting in an estimated $1.7 billion loss in tax revenue over the next decade.

The move is the latest attempt by the gun industry to chip away at the NFA. While NFA applicants previously had to be approved by the ATF and the chief law enforcement officers (CLEOs) in their areas, in 2016 — after lobbying from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade association — the ATF ruled that applicants only had to provide copies of their forms to CLEOs. The NSSF also lobbied for the ATF’s revamped “eForms” application system, which has led to dramatically faster approval times. …

Repealing the tax provisions may have been a backdoor attempt to invalidate the NFA. After the House passed the budget bill, GOA immediately announced that they were filing a lawsuit — dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Lawsuit” — along with the Silencer Shop, SilencerCo, Palmetto State Armory, and others to remove silencers and short-barreled firearms from the NFA, arguing that “once the tax is reduced to $0, the constitutional justification for the law collapses.” The NRA, ASA, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Second Amendment Foundation announced that they would file their own lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the NFA. In a joint statement, the groups applauded Trump’s budget bill, which “serve[s] as a critical step towards our ultimate goal of dismantling the NFA once and for all.” 

— Greg Lickenbrock in Congress Cuts Taxes on Silencers and Short-Barreled Firearms