Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) has been added to the House of Representatives’ reconciliation bill. The Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act will not be included in the House version. The bill passed the House on a party-line vote.
The HPA would remove suppressors from the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). Under NFA regulations, suppressors must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Suppressor owners must submit fingerprints and passport photographs. These suppressor owners also must pay a $200 fee for a tax stamp. The ATF screens the applicants using the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). After the ATF deems a person eligible to own a suppressor, their chief law enforcement officer is notified.
If the HPA passes the Senate in its current form, suppressors will be treated as any other Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) item, such as standard handguns and rifles. A prospective buyer must complete an ATF Form 4473 and be processed through NICS. They will not have to pay $200 for a tax stamp, and their suppressor will not be on an ATF registry.
If the HPA passes, dealers can sell these items under a standard federal firearms license (FFL) without needing to pay the Special Occupational Tax (SOT).
The SHORT Act would remove short-barreled rifles (SBR) and short-barreled shotguns (SBS) from the NFA. The NFA requires registration with the ATF if a rifle has a barrel less than 16 inches or a shotgun has a barrel less than 18 inches. This requirement was implemented during the debate over the NFA in 1934. The NFA looked to include pistols, so SBRs and SBSs were added to prevent people from using these “loopholes” to get around regulations. During the debate in 1934, the pistol regulation was removed, but the restrictions on rifles and shotguns remained. The SHORT Act would fix a nearly 100-year-old mistake.
When the reconciliation bill went through the House Ways and Means Committee, some Republicans, led by Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN), pushed back, claiming that removing suppressors and SBRs would violate the Senate’s Byrd rule, which states that only tax-related issues can be resolved using the reconciliation process.
The House doesn’t have a version of the Byrd rule. Many in the Senate don’t believe removing suppressors and SBRs from the NFA violates the Senate’s Byrd rule. Many reject Kustoff’s argument since the United States Supreme Court ruled that the NFA is primarily a tax law. Rep. Kustoff pushed to have the tax stamp fee lowered from $200 to $0 for transfers of suppressors instead of removing the items from the NFA. Applications to make a suppressor at home will still cost $200 if Kustoff got his way.
After a lengthy fight in the House Ways and Means Committee, the bill was passed with a tax reduction for suppressors and no change for SBRs. Gun owners were outraged and unleashed their fury on the House phone lines. The bill didn’t get enough votes to pass out of the House, partially because of the pressure from gun owners.
The budget committee, to appease gun owners, added a “manager’s amendment” to the reconciliation bill, adding back section 2 of the HPA while also including the language lowering the tax stamp fee to $0. The latter is a fallback if the Senate decides that removing suppressors from the NFA would violate the Byrd rule.
The SHORT Act was not included in the reconciliation bill. This does not mean the Senate will not amend the bill. The Senate can add the SHORT Act to the bill, and there seems to be a willingness to do so.
Gun owners let their voices be heard in the House, and it moved Republicans into action on suppressors. Now, gun owners will have to turn their energy to the Senate for both suppressors and SBRs.
With reconciliation, only a simple majority is needed to pass the Senate instead of a 60-vote margin to defeat the filibuster.
Republicans have the votes to pass reconciliation in the Senate. President Trump has already committed to signing it into law. Thus, the Second Amendment community is closer than ever to its biggest Congressional win in history.
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Gun Owners Kill Compromise Bill That Kept Suppressors on the NFA
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
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