Gun owners have been calling on Congress to add the full Hearing Protection Act (HPA) and the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act to be added to President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Now, those gun owners are getting their wish.
When the United States House of Representatives passed the reconciliation bill, it only included Section 2 of the HPA. Section 2 of the HPA removes suppressors from the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The HPA would leave suppressors as a Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) item. The removal from the NFA means gun owners will no longer be required to submit fingerprints and passport photos, nor pay a $200 tax stamp fee, to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Section 3 of the HPA, which would protect suppressor owners from restrictive state laws, was not included in the House version. Currently, if the HPA passes with only Section 2 intact, 16 states where suppressors are currently legal could make them illegal overnight. States like Ohio have laws on the books that require suppressors to be registered under the National Firearms Act (NFA). If suppressors are removed from the NFA, these hearing-saving devices could have their legal protections removed in these states. Section 3 offers state-level protection from the results of suppressors being removed from the NFA.
Also absent from the House version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” was the SHORT Act. That act would remove short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and any other weapons (AOWs) from the NFA. The original target of the NFA was handguns. Congress was concerned that people would use SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs to circumvent NFA regulations on handguns, so they preemptively closed what they saw as a loophole, but during the debate on the NFA, handguns were removed, leaving the SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs on the NFA. Eliminating these items from the NFA would fix a nearly hundred-year-old mistake.
When the reconciliation bill reached the Senate, the outcry from the gun community was massive. There was a push to include the SHORT Act and Section 3 of the HPA.
With the phone lines ringing off the hook, emails exploding, and politicians being called out on social media, the Republicans in the Senate relented and included both Section 3 of the HPA and the SHORT Act. Since this is a reconciliation bill, the filibuster is not a concern, as only a simple majority is required to pass the bill.
The Democrats are expected to protest the bill by claiming it violates the Byrd Rule. The Byrd Rule states that only budget and tax-related items can be passed through reconciliation. Democrats will argue that the NFA is not a tax but a policy item, which will put them at odds with the Supreme Court, which has since 1937 held that the NFA constitutes a tax law. They claim that removing suppressors from the NFA would eliminate the need for a background check, which is why it fails the Byrd Rule. Republicans will push back because that statement is incorrect. Unlike the Silencers Help Us Save Hearing (SHUSH) Act, which removes suppressors from both the NFA and the GCA, the HPA only removes suppressors from the NFA.
Both the NFA and GCA use the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Currently, because suppressors are regulated by both the NFA and GCA, the item undergoes the same background check twice. The checks are identical, and the information is the same.
The decision on the Byrd rule will be made by Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. MacDonough is a Democrat, but the role is that of an advisor. Ms. MacDonough has a history of non-partisanship, but even if she decides to ignore the fallacies of the Democrats’ argument, the presiding officer of the Senate, who is a Republican, can choose to ignore her advice. If that happens, the Democrats will surely object. The full Senate will vote on whether to accept or reject the advice. With Republicans holding the majority, they should win the dispute. The Senate has rejected the Senate Parliamentarian’s advice multiple times in the past.
This bill is the closest gun owners have ever been to dismantling the NFA. If the bill passes, only destructive devices and machineguns will be left on the NFA. The Senate plans to vote on and pass the bill by July 4.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
