In the Big Beautiful Bill passed in 2025, the National Firearms Act (NFA) tax for silencers/suppressors, short barreled rifles (sbr), short barreled shotguns (sbs) and any other weapons (aow) was reduced from $200, or $5 for aow, to 0. The elimination of the tax took effect on January 1, 2026.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there were over 150,000 NFA applications submitted on 1 January, 2026. We do not know how many of the applicaitons were for what type of NFA item. An educated guess is a majority were for silencers/suppessors, a significant minority for sbr, somewhat less for sbs, and a few aow.
There is quite a bit of chatter on the Internet about the experience of people submitting applications and what the response was from the ATF computer system. Many people are reporting being approved in hours or days. Many are reporting the ATF 2026 control numbers on their applications. Exactly what those control numbers mean is not certain. Some state they started on October 1, 2025 (start of the fiscal year) and they were in the low 300,000 on January 1, 2026. One reasonable assumption is they represent the number of applications submitted so far in 2026.
From AR15.com, there are reports of ATF 2026 control numbers exceeding a million as of 11 P.M. on January 8th, specifically over 1,080,000. Another poster mentioned a control number he received on January 7 was over 897,000. Some are control numbers 1,300,000 plus on late January 10, 2026. The implication is over 100,000 applications are being received per day, for the first ten days. The implication and assumption are not correct.
At the SHOT Show, the BATFE released the actual number of applications received and approved. As of January 22, the number of applications was over 290,000 in 2026. About 150,000 application had been approved. The problem with control numbers appears to be: a new control number was generated for each attempt to make an application. Multiple control numbers might be generated before an application is finally successfully submitted.
In an article published at AmmoLand, it was estimated the total number of registered silencers in the USA was over five million by January, 2025. It is unknown how many silencers were registered in 2025. Some people were waiting for the zero tax to take effect on January 1, 2026. Some people put in applications and were willing to pay the $200 tax to beat the rush. Some of the rush is pent up demand from 2025.
The implications of such large numbers of applications bode well for the lawsuits which claim silencers/suppressors are protected arms as considered by the Second Amendment, in part, because they are in common use. It is plausible the number of approved applications could reach a million plus by then end of 2026. There may be a backlog of approvals, but the approval process for digital applications seems to be much faster than in the past.
When the effective cost of an item in demand is reduced from $200 to $0, the demand will soar. Most people will buy commercially made silencers. Making your own SBR is extremely simple: mate one of the commercially available AR15 uppers with a barrel less than 16 inches to an existing AR15 type lower. The process takes less than a minute. Alternately, you could add a commercially made stock to an existing pistol, or register an existing pistol with a pistol brace as an SBR. Silencers are not difficult to make. Many of the people discussing their NFA applications on the forums this last week talked about making suppressors using the ATF form 1. Printing .22 rimfire suppressors was a method commonly mentioned.
Determining actual numbers of applications for the various items may take some time. During some periods in the past, the ATF has not released NFA numbers without a Freedom of Information Act request. At the SHOT Show, numbers were announced by the ATF. As of January 22, about 10,000 applications were being made each day.
Vendors of NFA items are willing to help submit applications for a fee. To submit one as an individual takes a little time. In addition to the information required on the form, the fastest way to submit an application requires a digital fingerprint file and a passport type digital photograph. Applications may still be done by mail, but response times could be months instead of days. Once a digital fingerprint file is in your possession, it can be used for any number of applications. Photographs should be good for a year. Digital fingerprint files can be obtained from multiple sources. This correspondent found a local gun store which was willing to create the digital fingerprint file for $20, as long as the recording medium, such as an SD card or key drive, was supplied. It is likely bloggers will give detailed instructions on the best way to submit the forms before very long.
Many applicants posting on the Internet have submitted multiple applications, ranging from 2 to 30. Once the first application is completed, submitting further applications for the same form only requires a few changes to the existing files.
For those who worry about "being on a list": Most of us are already on multiple lists. It has become a challenge not to have fingerprints recorded somewhere. Anyone who has been in the military, law enforcement, education, or a government position almost certainly has their fingerprints recorded.
The Trump administration is bringing the ATF to the 21st century. Hundreds of thousands of applications and zero tax argue for taking all suppressors, sbr, sbs, and aow out of the NFA.
©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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