Senate Republican tax bill would end federal taxes on many guns, silencers

Steven T. Dennis and Chris Cioffi, Bloomberg News on Jun 16, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans’ tax bill would eliminate federal taxes and regulations on short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and silencers as well as preempt state or local licensing requirements in a win for gun-rights advocates.

The legislation unveiled by the Senate Finance Committee on Monday would expand on House legislation exempting silencers under the National Firearms Act of 1934, saving buyers from a $200 transfer tax as well as manufacturing taxes, registration and other requirements.

The Gun Owners of America lauded the move, posting on X, “This is a massive victory for the Second Amendment!” The National Rifle Association also urged its members to lobby Congress to keep the proposal in the bill.

But Emma Brown, the executive director of the gun safety group GIFFORDS, led by a former congresswoman wounded in an assassination attempt, assailed the latest provision coming after shootings of lawmakers in Minnesota over the weekend.

“Voters sent lawmakers to Washington to protect their families, not make life easier for hitmen,” she said in an emailed statement. “No one is better off if killers have silencers and sawed-off shotguns except the people who make money selling them. Americans are sick of this.”

Senate Democrats have already indicated they intend to challenge the House’s provision as violating the Senate’s so-called Byrd Rule limitation on items that are not primarily budgetary in nature. They are sure to expand their objection to the Senate Finance text in hopes of stripping the provision from the bill.

The broader tax and spending package is being crafted under special budget rules that allow it to pass with a simple majority vote, rather than the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold. Even if the Senate parliamentarian says it’s comporting with the rules, it’s not immediately clear if this provision can survive both the House and the Senate.

Any senator can force a vote to strike any provision of the bill subject to a simple majority threshold.

Machine guns and certain destructive devices would still be regulated by the National Firearms Act under the bill.

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(Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, helped found and is a current supporter of Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates gun-safety measures)

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