New Bill Would Eliminate Remaining NFA Taxes — And It Could Shake the Entire National Firearms Act

Representative Lauren Boebert (R) from Colorado is pushing for the removal of the remaining tax stamps on NFA items.

A new bill introduced by Lauren Boebert could become one of the most significant attacks on the National Firearms Act we have seen in decades.

The proposed “Freedom from Taxes Act” would eliminate the remaining taxes imposed under the NFA, including taxes on transferable machine guns, destructive devices, and the Special Occupational Tax (SOT) currently paid by licensed dealers, manufacturers, and importers handling NFA-regulated items.

If this bill were ever signed into law, the consequences could extend far beyond simple tax relief. It could potentially threaten the legal foundation of the NFA itself.

What the Bill Would Actually Do

The legislation is relatively short and straightforward, but the implications are enormous. The bill would remove the remaining federal transfer and manufacturing taxes attached to National Firearms Act items still subject to taxation. That includes machine guns and destructive devices, categories that remain heavily regulated under the NFA system.

The proposal would also eliminate the annual Special Occupational Tax currently paid by licensed SOT holders. Right now, importers and manufacturers handling NFA items pay $1,000 annually, while dealers pay $500 annually to maintain SOT status. Under the proposed legislation, those taxes would drop to zero.

That would represent a massive change for thousands of FFLs and SOT holders nationwide. According to federal statistics, there were over 15,000 registered SOT holders in the United States as of May 2024. That means a huge portion of the firearms industry could see direct financial relief if the bill passes.

The NFA Is Already Beginning to Crack

This proposal comes directly after major changes included in last year’s H.R. 1 package, often referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which eliminated NFA taxes on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs. That was already a massive development.

Historically, the NFA’s infamous $200 tax stamp was designed specifically to discourage ownership by making NFA items prohibitively expensive. Back in 1934, $200 was an enormous amount of money—equivalent to several thousand dollars today.

The tax was never really about revenue. It was about restrictions. Now that suppressors and short-barreled firearms are effectively tax-free, many Second Amendment advocates argue there is no constitutional justification for continuing to tax the remaining categories.

Congresswoman Boebert appears to agree. As she stated, “Taxing our constitutional rights is unacceptable and unconstitutional. The government should not be imposing penalties on law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights.” That argument is gaining momentum nationwide.

Why This Could Threaten the Entire NFA

Here is where things become especially interesting legally. The National Firearms Act was originally upheld constitutionally largely because it was framed as a taxation measure rather than a direct firearm prohibition law. That distinction matters enormously.

Multiple ongoing lawsuits are now arguing that if the taxes themselves disappear, the constitutional justification underpinning the NFA begins collapsing as well. This lawsuits rightfully point out that without the base tax, the regulations violate the Sonzinsky (1937) Supreme Court case on the legality of the NFA.

This case state that the NFA legality is based solely on Congress’ taxation authority and the Second Amendment is not implicated in it. A bad ruling but still precedent none the less. But Congress has now removed the taxes that means the rest of the law is being enforced illegally.

We have already seen many of our favorite gun rights groups and attorneys pressing that argument in multiple federal court cases. Some are openly arguing the NFA itself becomes constitutionally vulnerable once its tax structure disappears. That could create one of the biggest Second Amendment legal battles in modern history.

Because if courts ever seriously reconsider the constitutional basis of the NFA itself, everything from suppressors to short-barreled rifles to machine gun regulations could suddenly come under renewed scrutiny. That possibility would have been almost unthinkable just a few years ago.

Suppressor Ownership Has Already Exploded

Another reason this conversation is accelerating is because NFA ownership itself has surged dramatically. Federal records show that over 8.6 million NFA items were registered as of 2024. Since suppressor taxes were effectively eliminated, ownership numbers have exploded even further. As of April 2026, there are reportedly over six million suppressors in circulation alone. That matters legally.

Under the Supreme Court’s Bruen and Heller framework, firearms and accessories in “common use” by lawful Americans receive strong constitutional protection. The more common suppressors and other NFA items become, the more difficult it becomes for the government to argue they fall outside the Second Amendment.

These rulings are further backed by the Catano case back in 2012 that held that 200,000 stun guns were in “common use” thus they could not be banned by Massachusetts. That creates a major problem for anti-gun advocates.

You can no longer argue that suppressors are niche items owned by a tiny community of enthusiasts. They are now a mainstream hearing protection device owned by millions of Americans. We finally have courts are paying attention to those numbers.

The Political Divide Is Becoming Clear

The Freedom from Taxes Act also highlights how dramatically firearm policy has shifted politically. While anti-gun lawmakers continue pushing “assault weapon” bans and magazine restrictions, many pro-Second Amendment lawmakers are now moving aggressively in the opposite direction. They are now pressing toward dismantling portions of the federal firearm regulatory system itself.

That is a major shift and one that we have never seen before in the United States. Groups like Gun Owners of America (GOA) have already thrown support behind the legislation, arguing the NFA tax structure was always designed to discourage lawful ownership rather than improve public safety.

The numbers are strongly supporting that argument. In 2023 alone, over 3.5 million NFA forms were processed, generating roughly $96 million for the federal government. Compare that to just $18 million raised in 2013, and it becomes obvious how dramatically NFA ownership has expanded in recent years. The firearm world is changing rapidly.

What Happens Next?

To be clear, this bill still faces a difficult road politically. Machine guns remain one of the most politically sensitive categories in American firearm law. We see anti-gun organizations attack semi-automatic firearms and treat them like machine guns themselves which means they will almost certainly attack the proposal aggressively.

But the fact this conversation is even happening publicly in Congress tells you how much the legal and political landscape surrounding the Second Amendment has changed. Five years ago, eliminating NFA taxes entirely would have sounded politically impossible. Now it is being openly debated at the federal level. If the taxes disappear completely, the next constitutional fight over the NFA itself may only be beginning.

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