Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
The $200 stamp is gone for several NFA items, but the forms, fingerprints, and waits still bite. Here is what changed, what did not, and how to play it smart.
What Changed At $0 And Why You Should Care
If you think of old school mafia running Tommy guns when you hear the word “NFA,” you are not alone. The National Firearms Act came into being in 1934, and since then, nothing has been the same. Gone are the days of Sears catalog shotguns and affordably priced full-auto. So what does the NFA mean for gun owners today? What is an NFA item? More importantly, what is a tax stamp? We are here to answer your questions and help you along your path to becoming the proud owner of [insert NFA item here].
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. It is educational information. If you want legal advice, go to a qualified attorney.
Table of contents
What Is The NFA
The NFA was enacted to heavily restrict the possession of certain weapons. This was in response to the violence that took place during Prohibition, and of course, the government chose to blame the guns rather than the mafia guys. This meantthat listed items had to be registered and that a tax would be applied not only to each item, but to each relevant feature. An SBR with a suppressor requires two tax stamps, not one. The tax stamp fee was set at $200, and it remained the same all these years.
Here is a quick snippet straight from the BATFE website about the creation of the NFA:
“While the NFA was enacted by Congress as an exercise of its authority to tax, the NFA had an underlying purpose unrelated to revenue collection. As the legislative history of the law discloses, its underlying purpose was to curtail, if not prohibit, transactions in NFA firearms. Congress found these firearms to pose a significant crime problem because of their frequent use in crime, particularly the gangland crimes of that era such as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
If any of this sounds familiar, it should. AR platform rifles and pistols are being targeted in a similar manner by many politicians today in a push for more restrictive legislation. But I digress.
NFA Items You Actually Care About
Running through the entire list would take a bit, so we will hit the high points. The NFA items most likely to concern you as a gun owner include:
- Short-barreled shotguns, meaning a shotgun with a barrel under 18 inches long.
- Weapons made from a shotgun if they are modified with an overall length under 26 inches or a barrel less than 18 inches in length.
- Short-barreled rifles, meaning a rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches long.
- Weapons made from a rifle if they are modified to an overall length under 26 inches or a barrel shorter than 16 inches in length.
- Any other weapon, defined by the BATFE as “any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive, a pistol or revolver having a barrel with a smooth bore designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell, weapons with combination shotgun and rifle barrels 12 inches or more, less than 18 inches in length, from which only a single discharge can be made from either barrel without manual reloading, and shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire. Such term shall not include a pistol or a revolver having a rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made, or intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of firing fixed ammunition.”
- Machineguns, meaning firearms capable of firing more than one shot at a time with one pull of the trigger.
- Silencers or suppressors, as defined in section 921 of title 18, United States Code.
- Destructive devices, a category that covers incendiary and explosive weapons, including bombs, grenades, and missiles.
There is more, but you get the idea. Features like barrel length, overall length, rate of fire, and sound suppression all come into play with the NFA. That said, you should get one. Or ten.
What A Tax Stamp Is And What Went To $0
Believe it or not, a tax stamp is an actual stamp. To acquire one, you have to fill out the requisite paperwork for the BATFE, pay the $200 fee, and get approved. Now, if you are thinking that the $200 fee is a thing of the past, you are only partially correct.
As of January 1, 2026, the tax stamp fee that had been in place since 1934 changed to $0, but not for every NFA item in existence. The zeroed-out fee applies to suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs. If you want that full auto joy, you still pay the $200 fee. The same goes for destructive devices.
It is also important to note that having the fee zeroed out for many items does not mean the process changed. NFA items are still expensive, and there is still a stack of paperwork and hoops to jump through to get them.
$0 Stamp. Good News, Bad News
You will find people in the gun world arguing heatedly about whether the tax stamp fee being zeroed out is good or bad. On the positive side, zeroing it out removes a small fraction of the total hit. It also gives gun rights legislators the opportunity to take it a step further. If you want to get technical, you cannot call $0 a tax, but they are. It lays a foundation for future legal challenges, like getting suppressors removed from the NFA entirely.
On the negative side, a $0 tax stamp fee does not improve the paperwork or the process at all. The stack of forms remains even if it’s now digital. And the wait time is slightly worse as people take advantage of the $0 tax stamp. This is helped along by many manufacturers jumping into the suppressor market as a result of the fee change. It is fantastic that people are exercising their rights, but it does get frustrating when the entire system crashes.
Overall, this is a good thing. Hopefully, it means we will make progress getting items off the NFA sooner rather than later. In the meantime, enjoy not being forced to hand the federal government more of your hard-earned money.
Will NFA Gear Get Cheaper Now
It is possible some items will drop in price, specifically suppressors. As more manufacturers start producing them, we end up with a supply and demand shakeup and companies competing for sales on a much bigger playing field. Remember that quality matters, so do not grab just any suppressor because it is cheap. Do your due diligence to make sure it is of decent quality and made by a reputable company. The random new companies are already popping up, so be careful.
You should get a suppressor. And an SBR, SBS, AOW, and probably a machinegun, too. Do not wait in hopes that things will change. Go get it now.
Find out what the BATFE says about the NFA here. Check out suppressors with Silencer Central here.
Quick Reference. NFA Tax Stamp Details
| Item | NFA Tax Stamp |
|---|---|
| Original Fee | $200 |
| Current Fee | $0 for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, AOWs |
| Unchanged Fee | $200 for machineguns and destructive devices |
| Effective Date | January 1, 2026 |
| Key Thresholds | Rifle barrel under 16 inches, shotgun barrel under 18 inches, overall length under 26 inches |
Pros And Cons For Shooters
- Pros: $0 fee on several categories, easier entry for first suppressor, more competition, potential price drops.
- Cons: Paperwork unchanged, wait times may increase, surge of low-quality products, $200 still applies to some items.
Related Reads from GunsAmerica Digest
- Suppressor Basics. Thread Pitch, POI Shift, And Heat
- How To Form 1 An SBR Without Screwing It Up
- Top 9mm Suppressors We Actually Shot
Kat Ainsworth Stevens is a prolific outdoor writer based in North Texas. Her love and enjoyment of firearms extends to both self-defense and hunting, and she’s driven to teach safe gun handling. Kat’s the author of several books and thousands of articles as well as a successful editor with more than a decade of experience in marketing. With experience in everything from defensive handgun use to field dressing a deer, Kat’s background is varied and extensive. She firmly believes in the importance of protecting the Second Amendment as well as the First.
When she’s not behind a gun or processing her own game meat, Kat can be found trapping, boating, doing yoga, and mudding. The outdoors and the Lone Star State are where she belongs.
Experience
Author:
Handgun Hunting and anthologies including The Deer Shot Back: And Other Hunting Tales and How Not to Shoot Fish and Other Deer That Got Away.
Dedicated Outdoorsman:
Year-round enthusiast of hunting, trapping, and fishing.
Advanced Training:
More than 1000 hours of training in defensive handguns, long guns, edged weapons, self-defense law, force-on-force, handgun retention, and related topics.
Focused Specialty Skills:
Expert witness. Massad Ayoob Group certified Deadly Force Instructor and graduate of Active Self Protection The Practice & Preparation of Being an Expert Witness.