(The Center Square) – The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act scraps the $200 tax on firearm suppressors and short-barreled rifles, a move gun-rights advocates praise. Critics say it’s weak reform that keeps unconstitutional federal controls in place.
Firearm suppressors used to be regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The provision in the new law would remove them from the NFA but keep them under the GCA.
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, explained the move to scrap the federal tax is welcome, but he expects all regulation to go away.
“We think the elimination of the tax is good. The tax was arbitrary to begin with,” Pearson told The Center Square. “It was really just a way to harass gun owners.”
Before the bill passed, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, voiced her opposition in a video that circulated on social media.
“Donald Trump and Republicans just included a section in their big, beautiful bill that would slash taxes on gun silencers and slash restrictions on purchasing them. This gun lobby tax break means it’ll be easier for anyone to get access to these things, violent criminals included,” said Warren.
Pearson called suppressors a “piece of metal.”
“Registering them is nonsense. Criminals don’t follow these laws anyway. It’s law-abiding citizens who get punished,” said Pearson. “People use them because it protects their ears. You still wear earmuffs, but it lowers the sound level to help prevent hearing loss.”
Illinois currently bans ownership of firearm suppressors, one of only a handful of states to do so. A federal lawsuit, Anderson v. Raoul, challenges the ban as unconstitutional, and is awaiting a ruling after being delayed pending a related case.
On social media The American Suppressor Association released a statement saying, “After the unelected parliamentarian’s politically-biased decision to block full repeal from the NFA, revised Senate text of the One Big Beautiful Bill now contains a provision to eliminate the $200 excise tax on suppressors. It is not the win we deserve, but it is a major step in the right direction.”
Pearson explained the registry may eventually disappear, especially after losing the revenue from the tax cuts.
“There’s a government bureaucracy at the ATF, and getting rid of the tax stamps [the registry] would likely reduce the need for some of their staff—saving money in the process,” said Pearson.
Pearson explained that if a person owns multiple firearms of varying calibers, they would need separate suppressors tailored to each caliber.
“If you’ve got five rifles and need five suppressors, that used to be $1,000 in taxes,” Pearson said. “Getting rid of that is great—but the stamp itself is still a waste of government money.”
