None of us is happy with what we’re looking at on suppressors. We had a chance at being able to buy them over the counter, and instead, the supposedly pro-gun House decided to just drop the tax stamp cost to $0.
While that might seem like at least a mild win, the truth is that the tax stamp was far from the biggest problem. The problem, at least for me, was the fact that I have to register them and essentially give up my Fourth Amendment rights, at least when it comes to guns.
But Isaac Botkin of T.Rex Arms has thoughts as to why this is happening in this manner.
This is why the ATF is willing to charge $0 for a tax stamp. pic.twitter.com/Q8Bg1QzvKw
— Isaac TRexArms (@IsaacBotkin) May 16, 2025
That’s an interesting thought.
Now, is that what’s happening? Let’s get into it a bit.
First, let’s remember that it doesn’t really matter what the ATF is willing or unwilling to do. They work for the president, whose job it is to enforce the laws passed by Congress. If Congress says the NFA tax stamp for suppressors is $0, then it doesn’t matter what the ATF really thinks on the matter. They’re supposed to comply.
Congress doesn’t work for the ATF. It doesn’t respond to its whims unless it just happens to decide it wants the same things.
So, on that note, I think Botkin is full of it.
But is he wrong about what the end result will look like, regardless of whatever role the ATF may or may not have played in this?
That’s a different matter entirely.
The basic premise is that when suppressors have no cost for a tax stamp, people will start buying them left and right and will create a de facto gun registry, simply because so many gun owners will now own suppressors.
I do think that a lot of people will at least consider it now that the cost for one is $200 less. Many of those will go through the application process and get suppressors simply because they’re now a fair bit more affordable.
Yet I’m not sure there will be quite the outpouring of applications that Botkin suggests.
Sure, the $200 fee just to buy something is stupid, and it’s part of why many don’t have suppressors, but on the same token, for people who are dropping a couple grand on a firearm, a $200 fee is hardly a deal-breaker.
Many of them are refusing to get suppressors because they don’t like the other crap that goes into owning one.
Now, the big question here is how many fall into each camp.
If the one Botkin talks about makes up a large majority of the gun owners in this country, then the impact will be exactly what he describes. It might not be the totality of gun owners, but it’ll be enough that, should there ever be a confiscation effort, they’ll have a good enough place to start.
If the one I outline makes up the majority, well, they’ll have a less great starting spot.
We gun owners tend to be a paranoid lot, but like they say, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you. The ATF isn’t a trustworthy organization. It never has been and likely never will be.
That’s why we need suppressors off the NFA list altogether.
Even that won’t be enough, though, because as Botkin points out, the ATF is using the Form 4473s in its possession to create a registry even though it’s illegal for them to do so. Still, it’s a better step than the piddly little scraps they’re throwing us.
Read the full article here
