Federal Bill Mandates Destruction of Silencer Owner Records, Blocks State Taxes and Registration

The “Constitutional Hearing Protection Act” is a major federal push to deregulate firearm silencers, also known as suppressors or mufflers. If passed, this bill would fundamentally change how these devices are treated under the law, essentially removing them from the tight oversight of the National Firearms Act (NFA) and blocking states from regulating them.

The NFA Exit Ramp: How Silencers Become Less Regulated

Currently, silencers are treated like machine guns or short-barreled rifles under the NFA, meaning you need federal registration, a background check, and a $200 tax stamp. Section 2 and 3 of this bill scrap that. It amends the Internal Revenue Code (the section that governs the NFA) to simplify the definition of a silencer and, most critically, states that if you follow the general federal gun laws (Title 18), you automatically meet the NFA's registration and licensing requirements for that silencer. Think of it like this: the bill removes the extra, expensive step (the tax stamp and NFA registration) required just for silencers. For the average person, this means less cost and less waiting time to legally acquire one.

Wiping the Slate Clean: Federal Records Go Poof

Here is the biggest provision that affects law enforcement and tracking: Section 5 mandates that the Attorney General must destroy all existing federal records related to silencer ownership, transfer, and manufacture within 365 days of the law taking effect. This includes the registration records kept in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record that link a specific person to a specific silencer. For owners, this is a major privacy win. For federal law enforcement, however, this eliminates a crucial database used to track these items. If a silencer is used in a crime, investigators lose the centralized federal record linking it back to its original owner or manufacturer, making criminal tracing significantly harder.

State and Local Governments Are Blocked

Section 4 is where the federal government steps in and tells state and local governments to back off. This provision preempts—or overrides—any state or local law that tries to impose a special tax on silencers (beyond standard sales tax) or requires registration, record-keeping, or special markings. For state and local governments, this removes a regulatory tool. For example, a city that might have considered a local registration requirement to track silencers in their jurisdiction would be blocked from doing so. The federal government would be taking away their ability to regulate or tax these devices at the local level, regardless of local safety concerns or preferences.

The Keystone Part and the Serial Number Shuffle

Section 6 updates the definition of a silencer in federal law (Title 18) to include the “keystone part.” The keystone part is defined as the single, externally visible piece required to assemble a functional silencer. Manufacturers and importers would now be required to engrave the serial number only on this keystone part. This detail might seem small, but it matters for manufacturers, as it dictates how they must mark their products. It also creates a potential headache: if a device doesn't have one clear keystone part, the manufacturer has to ask the Attorney General for special permission to mark it differently, which adds a layer of administrative complexity to what is otherwise a deregulatory bill.