While passage of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill marked the end of the $200 tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs) and other National Firearms Act (NFA) items, it left many wanting more. Consequently, lawsuits have been filed and federal legislation has been introduced to completely do away with the NFA, which is now a tax law with no tax involved.
While efforts to get rid of the NFA are noble and the law should be scrapped, the idea that it could happen soon is somewhat concerning. That’s because several states have statutes on the book that allow suppressor use as long as the suppressors are registered with the federal government.
Long and short, suppressor owners in some states could find themselves running afoul of state law if the NFA is ever rescinded.
To head off that eventuality, legislators in some states are being proactive in order to make sure suppressors are still legal in their states once the NFA is gone. South Dakota became the first state this legislative session to do so, with Gov. Larry Rhoden sighing Senate Bill 2 into law on February 10. The new law removed suppressors from the state’s definition of a “controlled weapon” and eliminated the statutory requirement that possession of these devices requires a federal tax stamp.
More recently, two other states have begun the process of deregulating suppressors. On Feb. 12, the Georgia Senate introduced Senate Bill 499, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Russ Ginn, and referred it to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A few days later, House Bill 1324, the companion measure sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jason Ridley, was introduced in the Georgia House and referred to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee.
Georgia’s current law states: “No person shall have in his or her possession any sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle, machine gun, or dangerous weapon, or silencer except as provided in Code 17 Section 16-11-124.” It also states: “A person commits the offense of unlawful possession of firearms or weapons when he or she knowingly has in his or her possession any sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle, machine gun, or dangerous weapon, or silencer, and, upon conviction thereof, he or she shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of five years.”
Under the proposed legislation, “silencer” would be stricken from both of those provisions.
Lawmakers in Alaska are also considering a proposal that would deregulate suppressors on the state level. Senate Bill 243 was introduced on February 13 and assigned to the Senate State Affairs Committee. The measure would remove suppressors from the controlled weapons list at the state level.
“This legislation is critical to ensuring that future changes in federal law do not prevent law-abiding Alaskans from possessing and utilizing suppressors to protect their hearing while hunting or exercising their Second Amendment rights,” NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) said in a news release announcing the bill.
