WASHINGTON — Today, the Senate passed a reconciliation bill that included a provision weakening the National Firearms Act by eliminating the $200 tax on purchasing or making silencers, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and other dangerous weapons — regulations that have been in place for nearly 100 years. Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action released the following statement in response:
“Slashing taxes on silencers, short-barreled shotguns and rifles, and similar devices is a $1.7 billion gift to boost gun industry sales that will endanger law enforcement and our communities,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We urge every lawmaker in the House to put public safety ahead of gun industry profits and oppose this disaster of a bill.”
“There’s nothing ‘beautiful’ about a bill that undermines our gun laws while adding trillions to the national debt and slashing life-saving programs like SNAP and Medicaid,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “We need lawmakers to actually address the daily gun violence our communities are reeling from instead of chipping away at century-old laws that keep our communities safe.”
Under the NFA, anyone interested in buying or building a machine gun, silencer, short-barreled rifle or shotgun, or other easily concealed weapon must first submit an application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) along with their fingerprints, a passport-style photo, and a $200 tax stamp before undergoing an enhanced background check.
A silencer is a device that helps dampen a firearm’s sound signature and eliminate its muzzle flash by allowing the hot gasses that follow a bullet down the barrel to expand and cool before hitting the air outside of the gun. Silencers work like car mufflers, but for firearms. As a result, it is more difficult for bystanders and police to identify that a gun has been fired or where gunshots originate.
The NFA defines short-barreled rifles and shotguns as shoulder-fired weapons with rifled or smoothbore barrels shorter than 16 or 18 inches, respectively. These firearms are particularly dangerous because they’re much more powerful than handguns while being just as easy to conceal on one’s person, including under a coat or in a backpack. Short-barreled shotguns — particularly those with cut-down barrels — have also been used in high-profile mass shootings, including at Columbine in 1999, at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., in 2013, and at Sante Fe High School in Texas in 2018.
The NFA also regulates what are defined as “any other weapons,” or AOWs, a catch-all term used for easily concealed firearms that are not considered pistols, revolvers, or short-barreled rifles or shotguns. AOWs include firearms disguised as other objects, including pen guns, cane guns, and umbrella guns; shotguns shorter than 26 inches and manufactured without a shoulder stock; and handguns that have a second vertical grip showing that they are intended for two-handed firing.