On an average day, the volume of eForms submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) runs somewhere around 2,500. Things changed dramatically on New Year's Day, when the fee for a National Firearm Act tax stamp dropped from $200 to $0. Approximately 150,000 enthusiasts filed their paperwork through ATF’s electronic system in just the first 24 hours of 2026.
The Internet-based portal struggled with the surge, and on January 2, the National Shooting Sport Foundation—the firearm industry’s trade association—issued a bulletin to members. “As a result of this volume, ATF is experiencing intermittent IT system glitches and delays that are affecting industry members nationwide,” it stated. “ATF has emphasized that it is actively working to address these technical issues and is engaging directly with affected industry members to resolve problems as quickly as possible.”
The tax stamp is required to take ownership of a suppressor, short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun and what ATF refers to as “other weapons.” All paperwork, fingerprinting, chief law enforcement officer approval and other requirements remain.
Suppressor ownership reached record-shattering levels even before the tax stamp was free. According to the American Suppressor Association, there were less than 300,000 of the hearing-healthy muzzle devices in circulation in 2011. By January 2025, that figure was roughly 4.4 million. The growth of more than 1,450 percent indicates enthusiasts eager to own one may have fueled most of the New Year's Day demand.
The stage was set for the New Year's Day surge in mid-summer 2025, however. “On July 4th, President Donald Trump signed into law his ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ which included a provision that eliminated the tax stamp fee of $200, but did not deregulate suppressors under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA),” NRA/ILA explained after the measure was passed. “The fee elimination will not take effect until January 1, 2026, and suppressors will still have to be registered under the NFA, with the standard government overreach of forms, fingerprinting and government approval.”
Quickly after the news broke dozens of suppressor manufacturers and retailers began offering to cover the $200 tax stamp free through rebates, incentives and other programs. In essence, it dropped the cost to zero for the remainder of 2025. Their effort likely reduced the number of sportsmen submitting eForms on January 1, 2026.
We may never know how effective those efforts were, but one thing is for certain. When ATF releases statistics from this month’s surge, the short-barreled rifle and short-barreled shotgun columns may hold some surprises.
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