The tax went away, and buyers did not exactly ease into the shallow end. FOIA data shows silencer applications surged hard in early 2026, but the real surprise is that approvals still moved far faster than many shooters feared.
Ernest Lintner is a lifelong firearms enthusiast who enlisted in the Air Force after high school. That led to an assignment to RAF Greenham Common, England which gifted him with opportunities to visit the Soviet Union in its waning days, complete the Vierdaagse at Nijmegen, Netherlands, and “work” full time in an armory. After returning home, he served as a city and state law enforcement officer before embarking on a career with ATF where he was assigned to three Industry Operations field offices, NFA, and NICS. Retiring in 2025, he founded Firearm Compliance Solutions LLC, a firearms industry consulting company. Other hobbies include military history, bunkers, masonry forts, museums, WWII memoirs, and lighthouses.
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