SHORT Act Mandates Destruction of Federal Firearm Records, Removes Restrictions on Short-Barreled Weapons

The Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act, or the SHORT Act, is a major piece of legislation aimed at deregulating specific types of firearms currently controlled under the National Firearms Act (NFA). This bill isn't just tweaking rules; it fundamentally changes how short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and short-barreled shotguns (SBSs) are treated under federal law, eliminating specific taxes and, most significantly, mandating the destruction of all existing federal registration records for these weapons.

The End of the Paper Trail: Destroying the Records

If you want to know the single biggest change this bill introduces, look at Section 6. It requires the Attorney General to destroy all current federal registration and transfer records for “applicable weapons” within 365 days of the bill becoming law. “Applicable weapons” covers SBRs, SBSs, and certain other NFA items. Think about it this way: right now, if a previously restricted SBR is recovered at a crime scene, law enforcement can trace it back through the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. The SHORT Act mandates that this entire historical database—the paper trail used for decades—be wiped clean for these specific firearms. For law enforcement, this removes a critical tool for tracing these weapons and investigating illegal trafficking, making it much harder to follow the chain of custody.

Deregulation and the Tax Man

The bill also cleans up the definition of a “firearm” for tax purposes (Section 2) by removing specific transfer tax rates associated with certain NFA items, like the $5 tax for “any other weapon.” More importantly, Section 3 removes specific references to “short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle” from federal lists of prohibited items or actions. This means these weapons are no longer singled out for unique federal restrictions in those specific sections, treating them more like standard rifles and shotguns. For manufacturers and sellers, this simplifies compliance, potentially reducing the cost and time involved in legally transferring these items.

Federal Rules Override State Control

Sections 4 and 5 focus on federal preemption, which is where the rubber meets the road for state and local governments. Section 4 states that if you comply with federal firearm regulations (Chapter 44 of Title 18) for an NFA weapon like an SBR, you are automatically considered compliant with any similar state or local registration or licensing requirements. Section 5 goes further: it bans states and localities from imposing special taxes, markings, or registration requirements specifically on SBRs, SBSs, or other covered weapons involved in interstate commerce. This is a massive shift. If your city currently requires a special permit or tax on an SBR, that local law is voided by the federal government under this bill, provided the weapon crosses state lines at some point. This is a win for owners in restrictive states but a significant loss of regulatory power for local governments trying to manage public safety within their borders.

What This Means in the Real World

For the average person, the immediate effect is a massive reduction in oversight for weapons that have historically been subject to stricter control due to their compact size and concealability. For a small business owner in a state that currently taxes SBRs, they might see a reduction in specific compliance costs. However, for the public safety sector—police departments and federal investigators—the destruction of records and the voiding of local registration laws remove layers of regulatory data that have been used to track these specific weapons. The bill essentially takes previously restricted weapons and moves them into a regulatory gray area, removing the historical record of ownership while simultaneously preventing states from filling that regulatory gap with their own specific rules.