Hearing Protection Act Re-Introduced in 2025, NFA Reform

The Hearing Protection Act has been re-introduced in 2025. The act removes silencers/gun mufflers from the National Firearms Act and places them in the same category as rifles and shotguns.

The introduced act does this by adding silencers/gun mufflers to applicable laws which now cover firearms, more specifically, rifles and shotguns, and removing them from the National Firearms Act.

In Title 18, United States Code, in section 922(b) –

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “shotgun or rifle” the first place it appears and inserting “shotgun, rifle, firearms silencer or firearm muffler”; and

(B) in paragraph (3) by striking “rifle or shotgun” and inserting “shotgun, rifle, firearms silencer or muffler”; and

The bill also changes the tax on firearms silencers/gun mufflers from the NFA $200 tax stamp to that of the current tax on firearms of 10%.

The bill demands the destruction of all current NFA registration records of silencers/gun mufflers within 365 days after the date of the enactment of the Act.

There is a specific provision in the bill which states the requirements in the hearing protection act meet any registration and licensing requirements of the National Firearms Act with respect to silencers. This provision meets some state requirements which require silencers purchased and possessed in a state have to met the federal NFA requirements. Arizona has such a requirement.  Without such a provision, it would require changes in state legislation to make silencers legal to possess in many states.

The bill has a preemption section which forbids states from imposing a silencer tax, or to require taxes on making, transferring, using, possessing, or transporting a firearm silencer in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or from  imposing a marking, recordkeeping or registration requirement with respect to such a firearm silencer.

The definition of silencers/gun mufflers is reformed to only include the outer tube or other single part on which provides the primary housing or primary structure of the silencer. This definition replaces the old definition which included any part of a silencer which was specifically used and designed for a silencer. This definition eliminates the previous definition which made any silencer part a legal “silencer”.  The definition was sometimes stretched to include freeze plugs, o-rings and washers as silencers under the law.

Because silencers would be placed in the same category as rifles and shotguns, most states would allow silencers to be purchased across state lines, just as rifles and shotguns are at present. Silencers could be sold and transferred just as rifles and shotguns are today. It is unclear how the eight states which currently ban ownership of silencers would fare under this bill. The outright ban on ownership is being challenged in federal court in Illinois. Massachusetts is considering bills to legalize the ownership of silencers. New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, California and Hawaii are the other six states which currently ban silencers.

Analysis:

Because the Hearing Protection Act has much to do with taxes, it should be included in the reconciliation bill, dealing with the budget. If the act passes, expect additional  legal challenges to outright bans on silencer/gun muffler possession and ownership in the eight states where the possession of silencers is banned by state law.

The text of the hearing protection act has not been officially entered in the House of Representatives as of this writing, but should be soon. As with all legislation, amendments and horsetrading are possible until the legislation actually passes.

©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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