How could it not?
Key Legal Definitions
- 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a)(7) – Classifies a suppressor as a “firearm” under the NFA.
- 26 U.S.C. § 5845(f)– Defines a suppressor as “any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm.”
- The National Firearms Act (NFA) was signed into law on June 26, 1934, in response to violent crime during Prohibition.
- Suppressors were classified as “firearms” under the NFA in 1934, meaning they required registration, a tax stamp, and ATF approval to own.
- The original tax stamp was $200 (the same cost today, but in 1934, it was meant to be a prohibitive cost).
- Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(24))(which defines suppressor parts as “firearms”) – Includes all parts intended for suppressor assembly.
- he Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968 was signed into law on October 22, 1968, following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- This law expanded the definition of “firearm” to include any combination of parts that can be assembled into a suppressor, effectively making individual suppressor components subject to regulation.
These existing laws clearly define suppressors as “firearms,” as stated and recorded in the National Firearms Act (NFA) and other legal frameworks.