The "Hearing Protection Act" removes silencers from the definition of firearms under the National Firearms Act, preempts certain state laws, mandates the destruction of silencer records, and imposes a 10% tax on silencers.
Ben Cline
Representative
VA-6
The Hearing Protection Act seeks to remove silencers from the purview of the National Firearms Act, treating them more like regular firearms under federal law. It preempts state laws that impose additional taxes or regulations on silencers, and mandates the destruction of existing federal silencer records. The Act also revises the definition of firearm silencers and mufflers under federal law, and imposes a 10% tax on these devices. These changes aim to simplify the process for legal acquisition and possession of firearm silencers.
Hearing Protection Act Aims to Ease Silencer Sales by Removing NFA Rules, Mandating Record Destruction
The Hearing Protection Act proposes significant changes to how firearm silencers (also called suppressors) are regulated and taxed federally. At its core, the bill removes silencers from the stringent requirements of the National Firearms Act (NFA), effectively treating them more like standard firearms (Section 2). This means the current $200 NFA tax stamp and lengthy, specialized federal registration process for purchasing a silencer would be eliminated for future purchases, applying to calendar quarters starting 90 days after enactment.
Silencers: Off the Special List?
Currently, buying a silencer involves navigating the NFA, a process dating back to the 1930s designed for items like machine guns. This bill changes that. By removing silencers from the NFA's definition of a 'firearm' (Section 2) and exempting legally acquired silencers from NFA registration rules (Section 3), the process would shift. Instead, purchasing a silencer would likely align more closely with the standard background check process for buying a rifle or shotgun from a licensed dealer, as outlined in Title 18, Chapter 44 of the U.S. Code. The bill also amends existing law (Section 6) to ensure standard firearm purchase rules apply to silencers, while updating the technical definition of what constitutes a silencer – focusing on devices that attach to a firearm to diminish its report, including the outer tube or main structural part.
Federal Rules Trump Local, Records Wiped
This legislation doesn't just change federal processes; it overrides state and local authority in specific ways. Section 4 explicitly preempts, or invalidates, any state or local laws that impose special taxes (beyond general sales tax) or registration requirements on silencers. This means states couldn't add their own layer of NFA-like regulation. Furthermore, the bill mandates a significant data cleanup: within 365 days of enactment, the Attorney General must destroy all existing federal records related to silencer registrations and transfers held in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (Section 5). This action would remove the historical federal database tracking these specific items.
New Tax and Marking Rules
While the $200 NFA transfer tax is removed, silencers wouldn't become tax-free. Section 7 amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 10% excise tax on the sale of silencers by manufacturers, producers, or importers, similar to the tax already applied to other firearms and ammunition under Section 4181. This tax would kick in 90 days after the bill becomes law. Additionally, manufacturers would still be required to mark silencers with serial numbers on the outer tube or primary structural part, though Section 6 allows them to request a variance if direct marking is impractical, provided it doesn't undermine tracking purposes.