WASHINGTON — Today, President Trump signed a reconciliation bill that includes 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 statements in response:
“Republicans have now made it easier to obtain some of the most dangerous weapons for the first time in nearly a century, putting communities across America — and the law enforcement officers who protect them — at even greater risk of gun violence,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “You don’t make America safer, healthier, or greater with a $1.7 billion gift to the gun industry that will result in more guns in more dangerous hands.”
“Donald Trump just signed a bill that makes it easier for people to get some of the most dangerous guns, and harder for families to stay safe,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “You can’t claim to care about public safety while dismantling the very systems that help protect, feed, and care for our communities. This bill isn’t beautiful — it’s deadly.”
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.