Today, Guns.com joined 30+ firearms makers, industry representatives, medical professionals, and Second Amendment groups to push Congress to finally repeal the barrier to lawful, free suppressor ownership created by the “unconstitutional National Firearms Act (NFA) tax scheme.”

Lead by the American Suppressor Association, the coalition from across the firearms industry sent the letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune. We have the full details of that letter below. The move comes as advocates for 2A rights push for the passage of the Hearing Protection Act with the current budget reconciliation debate.

Related: 2A Groups Urge Congress to Pass Full Hearing Protection Act

The statement lays out the argument for the removal of suppressors from the NFA by adopting Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act in President Trump’s "One, Big, Beautiful Bill." 

Calling the National Firearms Act of 1934 an “unconstitutional tax scheme” that was justified by Congress as a “revenue-generating measure,” the letter’s demand is clear.
 

Here’s a peek at the list of groups penning their name to the letter.
 

The full text of the letter is detailed below for your own perusal:
 

Dear Majority Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson:

The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) is an unconstitutional tax scheme that impedes the ability of all Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Justified by Congress as a revenue generating measure, the NFA was enacted prior to Wickard v. Filburn, the landmark case that significantly expanded the scope of the Commerce Clause. In 1937, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the NFA as a revenue generating measure in Sonzinsky v. US. On behalf of the American Suppressor Association and law-abiding gun owners nationwide, we call on Congress to permanently remove suppressors from the unconstitutional NFA tax scheme by inserting Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act into the reconciliation bill.

No tool can make a gunshot silent. Guns are simply too loud. Also known as silencers, suppressors simply reduce the dangerously loud noise of a gunshot to safer levels. Even the quietest suppressed gunshots are still as loud or louder than a jackhammer striking concrete. According to the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA):

“Persons wearing conventional hearing protection are not without risk of NIHL [Noise Induced Hearing Loss] when using firearms. The noise reduction of hearing protection devices varies considerably across users and may provide significantly less protection from noise than the labeled noise reduction rating (NRR) suggests. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recommended the NRR of conventional hearing protection be derated by 25% for earmuffs, 50% for formable earplugs, and 70% for all other earplugs to correspond to existing real- world data. NIOSH research has demonstrated that as many as 50% of persons using earplugs fail to achieve 25 dB of noise reduction for their earplugs. However, using conventional hearing protection in conjunction with a suppressor can significantly reduce the risk of NIHL more than using either device alone.”

For these reasons, the NHCA and the Academy of Doctors of Audiology support the deregulation of suppressors as a method to improve access to these hearing safety devices.

If removed from the National Firearms Act, suppressors would be treated identically to long guns for purposes of manufacture, sale, and purchase. This means commercial manufacturers and sellers would be required to have a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and purchases would be subject to the same National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check requirements as long guns. It would not legalize suppressors in any of the eight states where ownership is currently prohibited.

Americans should not be taxed for a safety device that helps prevent irreversible damage to one of their senses while exercising their Constitutional rights. It would be ludicrous if elected officials demonized and regulated automobile mufflers like they do suppressors. Suppressors use the same science as mufflers, which should come as no surprise considering the muffler was invented by the same man who invented the firearm suppressor. Like car mufflers, suppressors are designed to protect hearing, reduce noise pollution, and help us all be good stewards of the environment. Scare tactics, misinformation, and preservation of the status quo must not be impediments to restoring common sense to our nation’s approach to the Second Amendment.

We urge you to make good on the decades-long promises to protect our Constitutional rights by amending the reconciliation bill, replacing the current language on suppressors with Section 2 of the HPA, and permanently removing suppressors from the draconian NFA tax scheme.