When the $200 tax stamp on suppressors and other restricted items was set to be zeroed out at midnight on December 31, 2025, last summer, it was a given that demand would explode on January 1, 2026.
Still, the numbers have been stunning. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reported processing over 150,000 eForms on January 1. The normal daily volume had been about 2,500 per day.
Now, Knox Williams, executive director of the American Suppressor Association (ASA), has reported, according to the Shooting Wire, that more than 260,000 eForms have been processed so far this month by the ATF. Williams announced this after meeting with ATF officials during SHOT Show, which is occurring from January 20-23, in Las Vegas.
This figure, of course, includes all National Firearms Act (NFA) eForms, but suppressors typically make up the vast majority of these applications.
Incredibly, in 2025, the ASA is reporting that a total of 732,863 suppressors were transferred, which is slightly less than the 746,380 transferred in 2024. This means that the total number of registered suppressors in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) is now well over 5 million.
Though these numbers are indicative of demand, it should be noted that the ATF does not routinely publish precise, up-to-date data on the number of suppressors transferred in timely public reports; industry outlets, such as The ShootingWire rely on numbers shared by industry associations.
Still, the slightly reduced number in 2025 is obviously due to many thousands of people waiting until the $200 tax ended.
