National Firearms Act of 1934

The National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 requires certain firearms to be registered with the Secretary of the Treasury, more specifically, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). According to the Bureau, the following must be registered:

• Shotguns with barrels shorter than 18 inches: short barreled shotguns
• Rifle with barrels shorter than 16 inches: short barreled rifles
• Firearms capable of firing more than one bullet each time the trigger is pulled: machine guns
• Parts of those firearms above that allow for its conversion
• Destructive devices e.g. mortars and bazookas
• Any other weapons e.g. cane guns or pen guns
• Silencers a.k.a. suppressors

The act imposes a tax on the transfer of the defined firearms as well as on those that manufacture, import, and deal in the same NFA defined firearms. Transferring includes when the local licensed dealer sells you a said firearm or item. To the average gun consumer out there, this equates to a $200 tax on each item transferred to you not to mention the paperwork, fingerprints, and about a 6-month wait. Proof of registration includes a stamp affixed to your paperwork from the BATFE. There's a pretty good set of FAQs on their website.

The $200 is the same tax imposed on the buyer back in 1934. Yep, the same $200! Originally the tax was meant to curtail the transfer of NFA defined firearms because that was a significant chunk of change almost 80 years ago. The act really cam about because at the time of enactment, a significant number of criminals were buying machine guns like the automatic Tommy Gun and using them in the commission of crimes. The same background checks we endure today didn't exist back then, so imposing such a huge tax might discourage them from buying full-autos and settling for semi-auto instead. Not sure if that worked out or not.

There are a lot of state laws that apply and many NFA items are illegal in a few states. In the case of suppressors, about 40 states allow them and a handful of states allow for suppressor to be used when hunting. NFA firearm and item dealers will know what the transfer process entails if you want to own one. So if we want a cool-guy toy like a suppressor or shorty short rifle, we have to pay the same 200 bucks and wait to hear back from the BATFE. There's some detail about paperwork, too. The BATFE does actually issue a no kidding stamp on the approved paper work. It a bit larger than the average postage stamp. I got my first stamp about a year ago for my suppressor. Should have bought two!