Gun Suppressors Selling Like Hotcakes As Processing Times Have Been Slashed

Suppressors have been flying off the shelves, with over 500,000 being sold in the last three months, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The latest figure posted on the agency’s website indicates that as of August 4, over 6.65 million suppressors were registered in accordance with the National Firearms Act. Some gun-rights groups previously credited legislation that streamlined ATF’s process, with the processing time for Form 4s falling to nine days, according to the ATF website.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported in June that at least 6.1 million suppressors were privately-owned.

ATF Director Robert Cekada touted in a July post on X that the average processing time for the four most commonly filed ATF forms had dropped to 18 days since fiscal year 2021.

“Silencers were already common and popular among gun owners because they’re a great addition to any firearm,” Second Amendment Foundation Senior Director of Legal Operations William Sack told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Protecting your hearing while exercising your rights – whether while protecting your home, practicing at the range, or hunting – just makes good sense.”

“It also stands to reason that the burdens associated with the National Firearms Act – the $200 tax, paperwork and lengthy wait times – discouraged many people who might have otherwise been interested in silencer ownership from dipping their toes in that water,” Sack continued. “With those burdensome regulatory hurdles now falling by the wayside as a result of major legal victories, like ours in the Jensen case, it makes perfect sense that more folks than ever are buying silencers and availing themselves of their constitutionally protected rights.”

The reconciliation bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025 contained provisions that reduced the taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and guns described as “any other weapon” to $0 after the United State Senate’s parliamentarian struck language that removed those items from any coverage of the NFA.

“Suppressor ownership has skyrocketed since GOA’s provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the $200 tax,” Gun Owners of America Director of Federal Affairs Aidan Johnston said. “The increased demand proves that were it not for the NFA’s unconstitutional taxation and registration scheme, suppressors use would have gone mainstream long ago. If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: silencers are in common use.”

The figures were released a day before United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, granted a motion for summary judgement from attorneys representing the Silencer Shop Foundation on August 5. After Hendrix’s stay expired on August 12, at least two suppressors have been transferred without going through the ATF’s Form 4 process.

The Department of Justice admitted in legal filings since May 2025 that the “beneficial use” of suppressors overwhelms their misuse by criminals.