Since 1934, the NFA has imposed strict registration requirements on silencers, or sound suppressors, because they muffle the sound of gunfire and make it difficult to determine where a shot originated. Civilians interested in purchasing or building a silencer must first submit an application to the ATF along with a copy of their fingerprints, a passport-style photo, and a $200 tax stamp before undergoing an enhanced background check.
As the ATF notes, the NFA application process was initially designed to “curtail, if not prohibit, transactions in NFA firearms,” and the $200 tax stamp, which has never been increased or adjusted for inflation, “was considered quite severe and adequate to carry out Congress’ purpose to discourage or eliminate transactions in these firearms” in 1934.
In the past, silencer customers waited several months to have their NFA applications processed. But in December 2021, the ATF rolled out a new online “eForms” system — after successful lobbying by the NSSF — that dramatically sped up approvals. Well-known silencer retailers like the Silencer Shop have boasted that they’ve seen same-day approvals for customers.
As discussed here, silencer retailers have also streamlined the silencer-buying process. In addition to offering financing options for silencers, companies will prepare NFA applications for customers, collect their fingerprints through mailed kits or kiosks set up at gun shops, and even ship silencers directly to customers’ doors.
— The Smoking Gun in NSSF: Americans Bought 1.4 Million Silencers in First Six Months of 2024
“Civilians interested in purchasing or building a silencer must first submit an application to the ATF along with a copy of their fingerprints, a passport-style photo, and a $200 tax stamp before undergoing an enhanced background check.”
And yet, in spite of all those legal hoops that a prospective buyer must jump through, most Leftists want to outright prohibit suppressor sales. Note that Leftists have long demanded such hoops. Of course, once they manage to require those hoops, they go ahead with trying to prohibit ownership all together. That reveals their true desire–to disarm everyone.