Suppressors

First, we want to confirm that buying and owning silencers are legal. Private ownership of a suppressor is legal in 42 states.  The three basic requirements you must fulfill to buy a silencer are:
 

• You must be at least 21 years old
• You must live in a state where suppressors are legal
• You must not have any felony convictions

Secondly, you will need to submit, fingerprints, tax stamp, photo and more.  The tax stamp will cost $200.

Lastly, Finding the right silencer for you & your firearm and selecting your dealer and the recommended accessories.

Foot Note:  The term suppressor and silencer are interchangeable.

Where Are Silences Legal?

IS IT LEGAL FOR YOU TO OWN A SILENCER IN YOUR STATE?

The first step in buying a silencer is determining if suppressor ownership is legal in your state of residence.

Currently, the following 42 states allow private ownership of suppressors:

AL, AK, AZ, AR, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY.

Note: Even if you live in one of the states listed, you should still verify that owning a suppressor is legal in your area.

One of the requirements for purchasing a suppressor is a tax stamp. Keep in mind that every NFA item you purchase requires this federal government tax.

Another requirement is fingerprints. To complete this step, you can visit one of our Powered By Silencer Shop dealer kiosks conveniently located near you. You can also use an FD-258 fingerprint cards and ink to manually submit your fingerprints. Whether you use one of our kiosks or you send in your fingerprint cards, our team will digitize your prints so you never have to do this again.

Using our kiosk, you can also submit your demographic information. You can create an account on SilencerShop.com if you prefer to fill this out online or call our team who will help you complete this step.

You’ll also need a passport-style photo. You can download our free Silencer Shop app (on the Google Play Store or the App Store) and follow the prompts to take a compliant photo. Another option would be to visit your local shop that takes passport photos and ship them to us. No matter which way you choose to submit your passport-style photo, it will need to be updated every year. Don’t worry – we’ll email you when it’s time to update your photo!

Once you’ve completed each of the steps above, it’s our turn! We’ll prepare your Form 4 and send you a DocuSign document to finger-sign electronically.

Your signed Form 4 will then be shipped off to the ATF for review. The wait is the hardest part. But your next notification will be from your dealer to pick up your tax stamp and suppressor.

In our final email, we’ll show you can find your FFL dealer and give you our recommended silencer accessories.

What is the current wait time for a suppressor?

The Department of Justice has directed ATF to reduce eForm 4 processing times to 90 days, but that goal has yet to be met in any meaningful way.

Regardless, eForms are more efficient than paper and overall wait times will come down as more people switch away from paper submissions. (Silencer Shop defaults to using eForms unless explicitly asked to use paper.)

What ATF form is needed for a suppressor?

For a suppressor, SBR or any item on the NFA registry, Silencer Shop would work with you on an eForm 4. An eForm 4 is an electronic filing of the ATF Form 4: the application to posses an NFA item manufactured, purchased and ready to use by the consumer.

These statistics are auto-generated from our most recent approvals

Even though it’s impossible to know exactly how long ATF wait times will be in the future, the best indicator is typically to look at what’s currently being approved.

eForms Approvals

These dates reflect approvals from the last 7 days, and were updated on 11/14/2023