@Gunfighter14e2 - you asked a simple question and I'm actually not sure that between our standard descent into name calling and belittling, that you got an answer.
Wrt to the Hearing Protection Act portion that is in the Senate bill (and remember, we haven't have reconcilliation between House and Senate versions yet).
- Tucked within it is Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, which achieves a singular goal: removing suppressors from the NFA's purview. This provision: Eliminates the $200 Tax Stamp: The financial barrier, unchanged since 1934, is gone, making suppressors more affordable (typically $300-$1,000 each).
But, they will still be covered under the Gun Control Act of 1968 and as I understand it, suppressors will just require a NICS check (and FFL for out of state transfers) like any serialized firearm.
Below may be of interest to see the diff between requirements of GCA of '68 and NFA of '38.
Formatting didn't come over so may be far better to read at:
GCA Regulation of Firearms and Silencers
The GCA includes the principal federal restrictions on domestic commerce in firearms, including firearm silencers. The
statute:
requires all persons manufacturing, importing, or selling firearms as a business to be federally licensed;
prohibits interstate firearms transfers between unlicensed persons;
prohibits interstate sale of handguns generally;
sets forth categories of persons prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms and to whom firearms may not
be transferred;
authorizes the Attorney General to prohibit the importation of non-sporting firearms;
requires that dealers maintain records of all commercial gun sales; and
imposes heightened penalties for firearm use in a federal drug trafficking offense or violent crime.
Any unlicensed person seeking to acquire any firearm from a federal firearms licensee (FFL) must undergo a name-
based background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS). An FFL may
proceed with the firearms transfer at his discretion if those checks are not completed within three business days.
The GCA generally prohibits the importation of NFA firearms, including silencers.
NFA Regulation of Silencers
The NFA regulates silencers, machineguns, short-barreled shotguns and rifles, destructive devices (e.g., grenades), and
certain concealable firearms under the term "any other weapon" (e.g., pen, cane, and belt buckle guns). As part of the
Internal Revenue Code, the NFA taxes all aspects of the manufacture and distribution of such weapons and compels the
disclosure of the production and distribution system from manufacturer to buyer. To deal in NFA firearms, an individual
is required to be an FFL under the GCA and a special occupational taxpayer (SOT) under the NFA. The NFA imposes a
$200 making tax on unlicensed persons and a $200 transfer tax for transfers to unlicensed persons. ATF places a tax
stamp on a transfer document upon the transfer's approval, and the transferee may not take possession of the firearm
until he holds that document. Under the NFA, individuals must undergo a fingerprint-based criminal history background
check, which is arguably more thorough than a name-based check. There is no deadline for the completion of such
checks. It is a felony to receive, possess, or transfer an unregistered NFA weapon. Such offenses are punishable by up to
10 years imprisonment. In April 2017, there were 1,360,023 silencers registered to FFL/SOTs, law enforcement, and
unlicensed individuals in the ATF-maintained National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR).
HPA Provisions
By removing silencers from coverage under the NFA, H.R. 3668 would regulate them entirely under the GCA in a
manner parallel to long guns. It would preempt any state or local government from imposing a "tax, other than a
generally applicable sales or use tax, on making, transferring, using, possessing, or transporting a firearms silencer," as
well as any marking or recordkeeping requirements. It would also require ATF to destroy all records on silencers in its
NFRTR.
The bill would redefine the terms "firearm silencer" and "firearm muffler" as follows:
(A) The terms "firearm silencer" and "firearm muffler" mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the
report of a portable firearm, including the "keystone part" of such a device.
(B) The term "keystone part" means, with respect to a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, an externally visible part of a
firearm silencer or firearm muffler, without which a device capable of silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a
portable firearm cannot be assembled, but the term does not include any interchangeable parts designed to mount a
firearm silencer or firearm muffler to a portable firearm.
H.R. 3668 would require that FFL manufacturers and importers identify silencers by a serial number. It would levy a
10% excise tax on the making or importing of silencers.
State Laws on Silencers
Eight states and the District of Columbia ban silencers for civilian ownership. Those states are California, Delaware,
Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. H.R. 3668's preemption provision would not
cover those state prohibitions. In 42 states, state law does not prohibit ownership of firearm silencers, and an unlicensed
individual may acquire a firearm silencer under federal law. In 40 of those 42 states, it is legal to hunt with firearms
equipped with such silencers, according to the American Suppressor Association.