Latest news with #NationalFirearmsActof1934
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Warner, Kaine condemn GOP tax bill over gun silencer rollback
U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (left) and Tim Kaine in February 2024. (Official U.S. Senate photo by Rosa Pineda) Virginia's Democratic U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, D-Va., are slamming the Republican spending plan moving through Congress, warning that tucked among its billion-dollar tax cuts for the wealthy is a dangerous gift to the gun industry that rolls back long-standing safety rules for firearm silencers. In a blistering joint statement Thursday, the senators said the proposal would weaken gun laws that have been in place since 1934 by eliminating registration and ownership requirements for silencers, also known as suppressors — devices that muffle the sound of gunfire and make it harder for law enforcement to respond to active shooter situations. 'The Republican tax plan being pushed through Congress not only cuts critical services Virginians rely on in order to give huge tax breaks to billionaires,' Warner and Kaine said, 'but it also makes our communities less safe by weakening gun safety measures on silencers.' Though the change occupies just 12 lines in the nearly 400-page bill, the senators say its implications are severe. If passed, the bill would repeal the $200 tax on silencer purchases, wipe out federal registration requirements for the devices and deliver millions in savings to gun manufacturers. The suppressor tax, part of the National Firearms Act of 1934, has been a core part of federal gun law for nearly a century. The two lawmakers pointed to the 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting — where a gunman used a silencer to kill 12 people — as a grim example of what can happen when these devices are used. 'Part of the reason that these registration and ownership requirements exist is because silencers, like the one that was used in the Virginia Beach mass shooting, make it harder for law enforcement to locate and respond to an active shooter,' they said. Silencers are designed to reduce the sound, flash and recoil of a firearm, but their public safety risks have made them a focal point of debate. Law enforcement groups have long supported keeping suppressors regulated, arguing that they undermine gunshot detection technology and make it far more difficult to locate shooters in an emergency. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 4.5 million suppressors were registered with the federal government by the end of 2024, including 113,046 in Virginia. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates repealing the tax would cost the federal government $1.4 billion over ten years. But for gun rights groups, even this deregulation isn't enough. The American Firearms Association called the move 'nothing more than a crumb dropped from the King's table,' and its Vice President Patrick Parsons said Republicans should go further by eliminating regulations on short-barrel rifles, abolishing the ATF and repealing the National Firearms Act altogether. Warner and Kaine argue the silencer provision is just one piece of a broader bill they say would do massive harm to working families while lavishing the ultra-rich. They warn that the legislation would strip health insurance from more than 262,000 Virginians, cut food assistance to over 204,000 people, raise energy costs across the state, and threaten more than 20,000 Virginia jobs. They also noted the bill would eliminate a program that allows Americans to file taxes for free, raise taxes on minimum-wage workers, and blow a $3.8 trillion hole in the federal deficit — all while handing the top 0.1% of earners an average tax cut of $188,000. 'Americans deserve to feel safe in their communities,' the senators said, vowing to push back against 'this disastrous bill' when it reaches the Senate floor. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Passes Bill That Would Deregulate Suppressors, Eliminate the $200 Tax Stamp
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More › Early Thursday the House of Representatives passed a massive budget package, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, which included wide-ranging implications for everything from healthcare to natural resource development. One key issue for the hunting and shooting community is the potential for streamlining suppressor transfers and eliminating the $200 transfer tax. The provisions were included in a 42-page amendment to the 1,118-page bill passed by the House today. If the Senate passes the bill without changing any of these provisions, then suppressors could be purchased without the onerous ATF application that requires fingerprints, a waiting period, and the $200 tax stamp. This fee has remained in place since the National Firearms Act of 1934, which was intended to make suppressor ownership prohibitively expensive. There is a chance that this suppressor deregulation, also known as Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, does not pass the Senate. If that's the case, a back-up clause could still slash the long-standing $200 tax stamp to $5. The outcome ultimately depends on whether the Senate changes the language or its thrown out of the bill on a technicality — a bureaucratic process known as the Byrd Rule. 'This [suppressor] issue was not one of the major sticking points in getting the Big Beautiful Bill to the Senate,' says Larry Keane, the senior vice president for government affairs and general counsel at the National Shooting Sports Foundation. 'The Senate is going to do what the Senate wants to do. They're not bound by the House. But that's why both [provisions] are in there. It gives the Senate flexibility. If you just had the [Hearing Protection Act] language and the parliamentarian says 'No, it doesn't pass the Byrd Bath,' as it's known, then there's no Plan B. You get nothing, if you will.' Instead, says Keane, the odds are good to reduce at least one hurdle for suppressor ownership: the added $200 expense. Silencer Central has worked closely with the NSSF to deregulate suppressor ownership, and one rep says including several silencer clauses in this legislation gives gun owners the absolute best chance to achieve that. If suppressors are removed from the NFA, they will still be regulated as firearms under the Gun Control Act, says Keane. Cans would still need to be serialized and sold by an FFL with a background check. They would also still be regulated by state law. 'This is about making sure that people keep their hearing at the end of the day,' Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Missouri) said in an interview with Reuters. Some lawmakers worried this amendment might not pass at a time when Republicans are searching for revenue to offset other tax cuts. And indeed, eliminating the $200 suppressor tax stamp alone will reduce federal revenue by $1.44 billion over the next decade, according to a May 13 report from the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. About 80 percent of all consumer-owned suppressors in the U.S. were registered in the last five years alone (2020 to 2024), according to one NSSF report. That translates to a 265 percent increase in suppressor registration over that same time period, with about 4.5 million suppressors registered by the end of 2024. Suppressor manufacturers, who are already experiencing skyrocketing demand after the ATF slashed its wait times last year, anticipate more of the same if suppressors are dropped from the NFA. 'It would be a huge win for law-abiding Americans. Suppressors should never have been taxed in the first place. For our business, I foresee sales going through the roof for all suppressor manufacturers,' says Serge Ducourneau, director of sales for Abel Suppressors. 'It essentially reduces the cost of a suppressor by $200. We're already prepping for an increase[in demand]. There were a lot of people who already didn't want to buy a suppressor because they didn't want to go through the hassle of a Form 4 or starting a trust. I think we'll see more people using them if that tax is removed and if they're removed from the NFA.' This prediction is echoed by other silencer makers. 'We've been increasing production because demand has already been increasing,' says Ray Sanchez, a partner of Thunder Beast Arms Corporation, which specializes in high-end cans for precision rifles.'This will increase demand even more [from] all those people on the fence, all those people who were just mad, like 'I'm not jumping through the hoops, I'm not giving them two hundred dollars.' Because sometimes you could buy a suppressor for $200, a low end .22 can — ours is about $450 — but then you pay a $200 tax stamp on top of the sales tax.' Read Next: Why Every Hunter and Recreational Shooter Should Own a Suppressor The health benefits of suppressors are indisputable, says Sanchez, who notes that ear plugs only do so much to protect your hearing. 'It's just the polite way to shoot a pistol or a rifle,' says Sanchez. 'Here in the U.S. we've made it very easy for the most part to get guns but hard to get suppressors with the year-long waits. In Europe it's harder to get guns, but once you have one, suppressors are a hardware-store item. You're expected to shoot suppressed otherwise you're ungentlemanly.'
American Military News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
Gun suppressor tax may be eliminated under new bill
Second Amendment advocacy groups urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Wednesday to pass legislation to eliminate both a tax on firearm suppressors and the national suppressor registry. In a letter obtained by The Daily Caller, dozens of Second Amendment groups, including the American Suppressor Association, the National Rifle Association, and Gun Owners of America, called on Republican lawmakers to include Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act in an upcoming reconciliation bill. The Hearing Protection Act states that it would establish 'equal treatment of silencers and firearms' by amending 'the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove silencers from the definition of firearms, and for other purposes.' According to The Daily Caller, the legislation would remove a $200 tax on firearm suppressors that was instituted following the National Firearms Act of 1934. 'The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) is an unconstitutional tax scheme that impedes the ability of all Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights,' the Second Amendment advocacy groups wrote. 'On behalf of the American Suppressor Association and law-abiding gun owners nationwide, we call on Congress to permanently remove suppressors from the unconstitutional NFA tax scheme by inserting Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act into the reconciliation bill.' Wednesday's letter claimed that American citizens 'should not be taxed' for a device that provides safety and prevents 'irreversible damage' to the hearing of those who use firearms while 'exercising their Constitutional rights.' READ MORE: New gun law bans some semiautomatic guns in Colorado According to the Daily Caller, the purchase of a firearm suppressor currently requires U.S. citizens to complete a background check, purchase a suppressor from a licensed dealer, register the suppressor, and pay a suppressor tax. Wednesday's letter noted that the proposed legislation would still require individuals to purchase suppressors from licensed dealers and complete a background check. Critics of gun silencers have argued that firearm suppressors are 'inherently dangerous devices' that can be used by criminals to carry out 'ambush attacks' and evade law enforcement officials by reducing the noise of gunshots. 'Silencers put law enforcement and the public at grave risk by making it more difficult to identify nearby gunshots and locate an active shooter, and they should not be widely available to civilians,' the Giffords Law Center states on its website. On the other hand, American Suppressor Association President Knox Williams told The Daily Caller that firearms are still loud even when equipped with suppressors. 'You still need to wear hearing protection when using a suppressor because they are not quiet,' Williams said. 'Anyone who tells you that a silencer is a threat to public safety has never fired a suppressed weapon or been around one.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DOJ permits sale of triggers that allow rifles to fire like machine guns
May 18 (UPI) -- The federal government will allow the sale of devices that enable standard rifles to operate like machine guns, a move that angered gun control groups. The Justice Department said Friday it reached a settlement with Rare Breed Triggers. This is in accordance with President Donald Trump's Feb. 17 executive order Protecting Second Amendment Rights and the attorney general's Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force announced on April 8. "This Department of Justice believes that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "And we are glad to end a needless cycle of litigation with a settlement that will enhance public safety." There are two ways to speed the firing of bullets. Bump stocks use the recoil of the weapon to repeatedly bump the trigger, while trigger devices are aftermarket items that directly engage the trigger. During the first Trump administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives banned bump stocks, which mimic rapid trigger pulls to fire rapidly in a way similar to a machine gun. In 2017, the gunman in a mass shooting killed 58 people in Las Vegas while firing from his hotel room window using bump stocks. In 2022, ATF included specific trigger devices under the National Firearms Act of 1934. The ATF determined that the devices allow a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle to fire as fast as a military M-16 in automatic mode. In 2023, the Justice Department, as part of the Biden administration, brought a lawsuit in New York against Rare Breed Triggers. The National Association of Gun Rights filed a separate lawsuit in Texas challenging the ban and a judge there ruled the ban was unlawful. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 6-3 vote in Cargill v. Garland, ruled ATF exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a rule classifying a bump stock as a "machine gun." The Court's majority found that bump stocks do not meet the definition of a machine gun because they didn't allow for automatic fire with the single pull of a trigger. The next month, the Northern District of Texas applied the case to a device called a "forced-reset trigger" and concluded that they also cannot be classified as a "machine gun." DOJ is avoiding additional legal action against Rare Breed Triggers in appeals and related cases concerning the similar issue, Bondi said. The settlement with Rare Breed Triggers includes agreed-upon conditions that significantly advance public safety with respect to FRTs, including that Rare Breed will not develop or design them for use in any pistol and will enforce its patents to prevent infringement that could threaten public safety. Rare Breed also agreed promote the safe and responsible use of its products. "The cuffs are off. As of May 16, 2025, we're free! Expect the website to be updated on Monday, May 19," the company posted on its website. The decision was condemned by Vanessa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Giffords, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in 2011 while meeting with constituents in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz. "The Trump administration has just effectively legalized machine guns. Lives will be lost because of his actions," Gonzalez said. "This is an incredibly dangerous move that will enable shooters to inflict horrific damage. The only people who benefit from these being on the market are the people who will make money from selling them, everyone else will suffer the consequences." The national gun control advocacy group Brady United said in a press release that "highly dangerous weapons of war can now be purchased anonymously" and without a background check. "The Trump Administration's secret settlement with the gun lobby to permit the sale of Forced Reset Triggers will turn already deadly firearms into weapons of mass destruction," Kris Brown, president of Brady United, said in the release. "Machine guns are weapons of war that have absolutely no place in our communities. This dangerous backroom deal is not only an astonishing abuse of power, but undermines decades of sensible government gun safety policy and puts whole communities at immediate serious risk," he said. Brady previous was called the National Council to Control Handguns and founded in 1974 by Dr. Mark Borinsky, whose son was shot and killed in 1974. In 1981, White House Press Secretary Jim "the Bear" Brady suffered a bullet to the head, and the organization now bears his name.
UPI
18-05-2025
- Politics
- UPI
DOJ permits sale of triggers that allow rifles to fire like machine guns
1 of 3 | The U.S. Justice Department said it will allow the sale of devices, including by Rare Breed Firarms that enable standard guns to operate like machine guns. Photo courtesy Rare Breed Firearms/Instagram May 18 (UPI) -- The federal government will allow the sale of devices that enable standard rifles to operate like machine guns, a move that angered gun control groups. The Justice Department said Friday it reached a settlement with Rare Breed Triggers. This is in accordance with President Donald Trump's Feb. 17 executive order Protecting Second Amendment Rights and the attorney general's Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force announced on April 8. "This Department of Justice believes that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "And we are glad to end a needless cycle of litigation with a settlement that will enhance public safety." There are two ways to speed the firing of bullets. Bump stocks use the recoil of the weapon to repeatedly bump the trigger, while trigger devices are aftermarket items that directly engage the trigger. During the first Trump administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives banned bump stocks, which mimic rapid trigger pulls to fire rapidly in a way similar to a machine gun. In 2017, the gunman in a mass shooting killed 58 people in Las Vegas while firing from his hotel room window using bump stocks. In 2022, ATF included specific trigger devices under the National Firearms Act of 1934. The ATF determined that the devices allow a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle to fire as fast as a military M-16 in automatic mode. In 2023, the Justice Department, as part of the Biden administration, brought a lawsuit in New York against Rare Breed Triggers. The National Association of Gun Rights filed a separate lawsuit in Texas challenging the ban and a judge there ruled the ban was unlawful. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 6-3 vote in Cargill v. Garland, ruled ATF exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a rule classifying a bump stock as a "machine gun." The Court's majority found that bump stocks do not meet the definition of a machine gun because they didn't allow for automatic fire with the single pull of a trigger. The next month, the Northern District of Texas applied the case to a device called a "forced-reset trigger" and concluded that they also cannot be classified as a "machine gun." DOJ is avoiding additional legal action against Rare Breed Triggers in appeals and related cases concerning the similar issue, Bondi said. The settlement with Rare Breed Triggers includes agreed-upon conditions that significantly advance public safety with respect to FRTs, including that Rare Breed will not develop or design them for use in any pistol and will enforce its patents to prevent infringement that could threaten public safety. Rare Breed also agreed promote the safe and responsible use of its products. "The cuffs are off. As of May 16, 2025, we're free! Expect the website to be updated on Monday, May 19," the company posted on its website. The decision was condemned by Vanessa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Giffords, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in 2011 while meeting with constituents in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz. "The Trump administration has just effectively legalized machine guns. Lives will be lost because of his actions," Gonzalez said. "This is an incredibly dangerous move that will enable shooters to inflict horrific damage. The only people who benefit from these being on the market are the people who will make money from selling them, everyone else will suffer the consequences." The national gun control advocacy group Brady United said in a press release that "highly dangerous weapons of war can now be purchased anonymously" and without a background check. "The Trump Administration's secret settlement with the gun lobby to permit the sale of Forced Reset Triggers will turn already deadly firearms into weapons of mass destruction," Kris Brown, president of Brady United, said in the release. "Machine guns are weapons of war that have absolutely no place in our communities. This dangerous backroom deal is not only an astonishing abuse of power, but undermines decades of sensible government gun safety policy and puts whole communities at immediate serious risk," he said. Brady previous was called the National Council to Control Handguns and founded in 1974 by Dr. Mark Borinsky, whose son was shot and killed in 1974. In 1981, White House Press Secretary Jim "the Bear" Brady suffered a bullet to the head, and the organization now bears his name.
