{"id":117813,"date":"2026-07-13T21:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117813"},"modified":"2026-07-13T21:07:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:07:25","slug":"117813","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117813","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

If You Haven\u2019t Heard, Suppressor Sales are Booming<\/a><\/p>\n

By Salam Fatohi<\/p>\n

America\u2019s gun buyers are quietly making big noise when it comes to their shooting preferences. They are buying items regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) in huge numbers. That includes suppressors, short-barrel rifles (SBRs) and short-barrel shotguns (SBSs).<\/p>\n

These figures aren\u2019t in the hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands. The number is creeping up toward 1 million for this year alone, according to data provided to NSSF from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). And there are still seven months of purchasing data to collect this year.<\/p>\n

That data shows over 845,000 suppressor applications were submitted and 768,000 were approved from January through May this year. Those totals include both Form 1 applications to manufacture suppressors and Form 4 applications to possess a suppressor either as an individual or in a trust with several parties.<\/p>\n

In fact, NSSF reported a\u00a0177 percent increase in NFA checks<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in June 2026 over the previous year. That number jumped to 166,677 last month compared to 60,147 last June.<\/p>\n

\"Table:<\/p>\n

The Reasons<\/h4>\n

NSSF\u00a0noted in January<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that 2026 could be the \u201cYear of the Suppressor.\u201d That prediction is turning out to be spot-on accurate. There are a couple reasons driving these figures.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly the One Big, Beautiful Bill, signed into law in the summer of 2025, turned an increasing interest in suppressors by gun owners into an all-out frenzy. A provision in that law, by deeming the required tax stamp as paid, in effect reduced the tax to $0 from $200.<\/p>\n

Without the $200 tax added to the cost of each suppressor, buyers are finding it an easier investment to make. Turns out, when government gets out of the way of exercising rights, law-abiding citizens will want to exercise those rights even more.<\/p>\n

Another reason for the dramatic rise in suppressor applications is that the ATF\u2019s NFA Division is approving them in a matter of days, not months. NSSF\u00a0worked diligently<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0starting back in 2013 to ensure that ATF\u2019s NFA Division had the budgetary resources needed to institute electronic form processing, or eForms.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The ATF\u00a0reports<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that current Form 1 processing times are 62 days for eForms and 33 days for paper forms. Form 4 processing times for trusts are at 25 days for both eForms and paper forms and Form 4 for individuals are at eight days for eForms and 63 days for paper forms.<\/p>\n

Silencer Central has even\u00a0more encouraging data<\/strong><\/a>. They are reporting that individual Form 4 applications are being approved in three days and trust applications are being approved in 19 days, on average.<\/p>\n

Silencer Shop, likewise,\u00a0reports<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that eForm 4 approvals are finalized within three-to-10 days, with the median wait range at four days for individuals and 23 days for a trust.<\/p>\n

It also turns out that as more recreational marksmen and hunters become exposed to the benefits of shooting suppressed, the more they like it \u2014 and want it. A study commissioned by NSSF, titled \u201cSuppressor Owner Study: Market Size, Purchase Profile & Journey, Satisfaction 2025,\u201d found the suppressor market saw a\u00a0265 percent growth<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in suppressor registrations from 2020 to 2024, and that during that same period, the total number of suppressors in circulation doubled. That NSSF data revealed that approximately 35 percent of the 2020\u20132024 suppressor purchasers were first-time buyers.\u00a0Guns.com reported<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in March 2026 that 2010 data show roughly 285,000 registered suppressors but topped 3.5 million by 2024. The growth of silencer ownership has been exponential.<\/p>\n

According to the ATF\u2019s National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR), there are 6.3 million suppressors in the registry as of May 2026.<\/p>\n

\"Table:
Source: ATF NSSF Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Industry Responds<\/h4>\n

Suppressors are\u00a0legal for ownership<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in 42 states and legal for hunting in 41. They not only reduce the noise associated with a firearm\u2019s report or muzzle blast (to a level similar to a jackhammer), but they also reduce recoil and make follow-up shots more accurate. Suppressor manufacturers are responding to the spike in demand. Silencer Central, for example, recently\u00a0expanded their headquarters<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0with a new $20 million, 70,000-square-foot distribution center at their Sioux Fall, S.D. location.<\/p>\n

The Outdoor Wire\u2019s Paul Erhardt\u00a0reported<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in May 2026, that FN America, Bergara and Lyman were notable manufacturers entering the suppressor market. Erhardt also noted that Silencer Shop grew to nearly 7,000 dealers, with a third of those using their kiosks to aide their customers through the application process.<\/p>\n

NSSF continues to advocate for passage of the\u00a0Hearing Protection Act<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(HPA), introduced as\u00a0H.R. 404<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Ben Cline (R-Va.) and as\u00a0S. 364<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0by U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in the Senate. The HPA would remove firearm suppressors from the NFA, eliminating onerous and duplicitous background checks. Instead, what is essentially a muffler for a gun would continue to be regulated under the 1968 Gun Control Act (GCA) with the same background check that is required for a retail firearm purchase.<\/p>\n

NSSF is also leading the way encouraging states to deregulate suppressors under state law for when Congress passes the HPA. South Dakota\u2019s Gov. Larry Rhoden\u00a0signed an NSSF-supported law<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0removing suppressors from the state\u2019s definition of a \u201ccontrolled weapon\u201d and eliminated the statutory requirement that possession of these devices requires a federal tax stamp. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed similar\u00a0NSSF-supported law<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in her state in April. This legislation is needed in about 14 more states so that when the HPA is enacted state laws tethered to the NFA will not inadvertently render suppressors unlawful to possess.<\/p>\n

If the current trend continues, the suppressor market could heat up further. The year is only half through and demand is booming. The desire to shoot quietly has never been as popular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If You Haven\u2019t Heard, Suppressor Sales are Booming By Salam Fatohi America\u2019s gun buyers are quietly making big noise when it comes to their shooting preferences. They are buying items regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) in huge numbers. That includes suppressors, short-barrel rifles (SBRs) and short-barrel shotguns (SBSs). These figures aren\u2019t in the … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-gun-schtuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117814,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117813\/revisions\/117814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}