Are Silencers Legal in the US? Ownership, Registration, Penalties

Silencers, also called suppressors, are legal for civilians to own under federal law in 42 of the 50 states. In the other eight states and the District of Columbia, civilian possession is banned outright. Where they are legal, buying one means registering the device with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the National Firearms Act, which involves an application, fingerprints, a photograph, and a background check that currently takes about 10 to 26 days to clear electronically.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times

Where Silencers Are Banned

Eight states and the District of Columbia prohibit civilian silencer ownership entirely:

  • California
  • Delaware
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Massachusetts
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Rhode Island

In the remaining 42 states, civilian ownership is legal, but some states layer on their own use restrictions. Connecticut and Vermont allow ownership but prohibit using a suppressor while hunting. State laws shift, so confirming your state’s current rules before you start the paperwork is worth the few minutes it takes. Carrying a suppressor into a prohibited state is a state-level felony no matter what your federal registration says.

Who Can Legally Own One

To buy a silencer from a licensed dealer, you must be at least 21 and a U.S. resident. Private transfers between individuals lower the age floor to 18, though your state may set a higher minimum.

Federal law bars several categories of people from possessing any firearm, silencers included. You cannot legally own one if you:

  • Have a felony conviction, meaning any crime punishable by more than one year in prison
  • Are a fugitive from justice
  • Use or are addicted to a controlled substance
  • Have been adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution
  • Received a dishonorable discharge from the Armed Forces
  • Have renounced U.S. citizenship
  • Are subject to a domestic restraining order that includes a finding of credible threat to an intimate partner or child
  • Have a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction
  • Are an unlawful alien or, in most cases, a nonimmigrant visa holder

Any one of these disqualifiers makes possession a federal crime, whether you obtained the silencer before or after the disqualifying event.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922

How Federal Registration Works

The National Firearms Act requires silencers to be registered in a national database and transferred only through an ATF application process.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act The federal definition is broad: it covers not just the finished device but any combination of parts designed for building one, and any individual part intended solely for that purpose.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions Unregistered components, including “solvent traps” designed to work as suppressor parts, carry the same legal exposure as a completed silencer.

The transfer tax that historically accompanied a silencer purchase has been eliminated. Under the current statute, the $200 NFA transfer tax applies only to machine guns and destructive devices; silencers now carry a $0 transfer tax.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 5811 – Transfer Tax The full registration process still applies.

The Steps

You pick out a silencer at a licensed dealer and pay for it. The device stays in the dealer’s possession while your paperwork is pending. The dealer helps you complete ATF Form 4, the application for tax-paid transfer and registration, which identifies you and the specific silencer by manufacturer, model, caliber, and serial number.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Forms Federal law requires that your fingerprints and photograph be part of the application.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 5812

The dealer submits the application electronically through ATF’s eForms system. Median processing times for eForm 4 currently run about 10 days for individual applications and 26 days for trusts, though these fluctuate with application volume.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times Once approved, the ATF sends the tax stamp to the dealer, who calls you in for pickup. Individual registrants can take possession without an additional point-of-sale background check; if the silencer is registered to a trust or other entity, the person picking it up completes a Form 4473 and passes a NICS check at that time.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Handbook – Transfers of NFA Firearms

Registering to Yourself or to a Trust

You register a silencer either to yourself as an individual or to a legal entity, most commonly a gun trust. That choice determines who can legally hold the device once you have it.

Individual registration is simpler on paper. Only your fingerprints, photo, and application go in. The tradeoff is that you are the only person who can possess the suppressor. Others can shoot with it at the range while you are present, but no one else can transport it or take it home. A spouse who takes your suppressed rifle to the range without you has technically committed an illegal transfer under the NFA.

A gun trust lets multiple people, called trustees, possess and use the silencer independently. The paperwork grows: every “responsible person” on the trust must submit fingerprints, a photograph, and a completed ATF Form 5320.23.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire – ATF Form 5320.23 Trusts also simplify inheritance, since NFA items in a trust pass to successor trustees without probate. Flat-fee online trusts start around $60; an attorney-drafted trust runs several hundred dollars.

Living With a Registered Silencer

The ATF requires that your approved registration be available whenever you have the silencer with you. Many owners keep a digital copy on their phone or in the range bag and store the original at home.

Moving permanently to another state does not require prior ATF approval for a silencer. The ATF suggests filing Form 5320.20 as a courtesy address update, but it is not a legal requirement for suppressors. What does matter is that your destination state permits silencer ownership at all; the eight-state ban is absolute.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

NFA violations are serious. Possessing an unregistered silencer, transferring one without ATF approval, receiving an illegally transferred silencer, or altering a serial number are all federal felonies.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 5861 – Prohibited Acts Each violation carries a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a $10,000 fine.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 5871 The ATF can also seize and forfeit the silencer and any firearms involved.12Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 27 CFR 479 – Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms

Because the federal definition of “silencer” reaches individual parts intended for building one, possessing unregistered components carries the same exposure as possessing a finished device.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions People have been convicted for possessing kits sold under innocent-sounding names when the parts had no plausible purpose other than suppressor assembly.