To legally own a suppressor, you register it with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) before you take possession: either file ATF Form 4 to buy one through a licensed dealer, or file ATF Form 1 to build one yourself. Either path requires fingerprints, a passport-style photo, a background check, and approval from the ATF before the suppressor is yours. As of January 1, 2026, the federal tax on both transfers and homemade builds dropped from $200 to $0, removing what used to be the largest upfront cost.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5821 – Making Tax The paperwork and the wait have not gone anywhere, and possessing an unregistered suppressor is a federal felony punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Who Is Eligible
You must be at least 21 to buy a suppressor from a licensed dealer. Private Form 4 transfers between individuals drop the federal floor to 18, though your state may set it higher. You must be a U.S. resident and legally eligible to possess firearms.
The federal prohibited-persons list is broader than many buyers expect. You cannot legally possess any firearm, including a suppressor, if any of the following applies to you:
- A felony conviction, meaning any crime punishable by more than one year in prison, whether or not you served time
- Fugitive-from-justice status
- Current unlawful use of, or addiction to, controlled substances
- A formal adjudication as mentally defective or commitment to a mental institution
- A qualifying restraining order related to threats against an intimate partner or child, issued after a hearing with notice
- A misdemeanor conviction for a crime of domestic violence
- A dishonorable discharge from the Armed Forces
- Renunciation of U.S. citizenship
- Unlawful presence in the U.S., or admission on a nonimmigrant visa (with limited exceptions)
Any one of these disqualifies you, and the background check is designed to catch it.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Where Suppressors Are Legal
Civilian suppressor ownership is legal in 42 states. Eight states and the District of Columbia ban it outright: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Even among the 42 that allow ownership, a few restrict use. Connecticut, for instance, allows possession but prohibits hunting with a suppressor. Check your state’s rules before you order, and again before you take one afield.
Choose How to Register: Individual or Trust
Before you file anything, decide who will hold the suppressor on paper. You can register as an individual, through an NFA trust, or as a legal entity like a corporation. Most buyers pick one of the first two, and the choice has practical weight.
Register as an individual and you are the only person who may legally possess that suppressor. Handing it to a friend at the range, or leaving it where a spouse could access it, can put someone else on the wrong side of federal law without them realizing it. A trust fixes that. Any trustee named on an NFA trust may legally possess and use the suppressor whether or not you’re present, which is why families and shooting partners commonly use one.
The cost is paperwork. Under ATF Rule 41F, every “responsible person” on a trust submits their own fingerprint cards, passport-style photo, and Responsible Person Questionnaire, and each undergoes a separate background check.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Background Checks for Responsible Persons (Final Rule 41F) Five trustees means five sets of fingerprints and five background checks. A solo buyer with no need to share access is usually better off registering as an individual.
Buying Through a Dealer: ATF Form 4
The common route is a licensed dealer. You file ATF Form 4, the Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of a Firearm. The name is a holdover; the transfer tax is now $0.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax The form collects your personal information, the suppressor’s manufacturer, model, serial number, and caliber, and your chosen registration type.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid) (ATF Form 5320.4)
Alongside the form you submit two FD-258 fingerprint cards and a passport-style photograph. Applicants using a trust or entity submit those items for every responsible person, plus a completed Responsible Person Questionnaire (Form 5320.23). You also send a copy of the completed Form 4 to the chief law enforcement officer in your jurisdiction. That is a notification, not a request for permission.
Dealers charge a transfer fee on top of the suppressor’s price, and the amount varies. If the seller is out of state, the suppressor ships to a local dealer who handles the Form 4 on your end. Factor that fee in when you compare prices.
Building Your Own: ATF Form 1
You can legally build a suppressor at home, but only after the ATF approves a Form 1, the Application to Make and Register a Firearm. The making tax is also $0 as of 2026, and the fingerprint, photo, and CLEO notification requirements match Form 4.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5821 – Making Tax
Building before approval is a federal felony. Even buying parts with the intent to assemble them before your Form 1 comes back creates legal exposure. Wait for the approved form before you touch a drill.
Engraving Requirements
Once approval arrives, the suppressor must be permanently engraved with a serial number, your name, and your city and state. Federal regulations require the engraving to be at least 0.003 inches deep, with the serial number no smaller than 1/16 inch.6ATF eRegulations. 27 CFR 479.102 – Identification of Firearms Most builders pay a professional engraving service to ensure the marks meet spec. Skipping the step, or doing it wrong, is itself a violation of the National Firearms Act.
Submission, Background Check, and Approval
Form 4 and Form 1 applications run through the same pipeline. You submit electronically through the ATF eForms system, which is the faster option, or by mailing paper copies to the NFA Division. The ATF then runs a background check, with the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System handling its portion, and the ATF makes the final approval or denial.7Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting Reason for and/or Challenging a NICS-Related Denial
When approval comes back, the ATF returns your stamped form. That form is your proof of legal registration. Keep it accessible whenever you have the suppressor, because a person possessing a registered NFA firearm must produce proof of registration for any ATF officer who asks.
How Long the Wait Takes
Waits are far shorter than they used to be. ATF data from February 2026 shows average processing times of about 10 days for individual eForm 4 applications and roughly 26 days for trust eForm 4 applications, with a median of 12 days for individual eForms.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Current Processing Times Paper submissions take significantly longer. If speed matters, use eForms.
Owning It Day to Day
Traveling Across State Lines
A common misconception: suppressors do not require ATF permission to cross state lines. Federal law restricts unlicensed transport of destructive devices, machineguns, short-barreled shotguns, and short-barreled rifles across state lines without prior ATF authorization, but suppressors are not on that list.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts You do not need to file ATF Form 5320.20 to travel with one. You can only bring it into states where possession is legal, though, and driving through a banning state is risky whatever federal law allows. Plan the route and carry the approved form.
Selling or Giving It to Someone Else
Every transfer to another person runs through Form 4. The recipient submits fingerprints and photos, passes a background check, and waits for ATF approval before the suppressor changes hands. With the transfer tax at $0, the fee is gone, but the paperwork and wait are not.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Handbook – Chapter 9 – Transfers of NFA Firearms
When the Owner Dies
Estates follow a different path. On the owner’s death, the executor has temporary legal custody of the suppressor and a reasonable window, generally before probate closes, to arrange the transfer. The executor should not hand the suppressor to someone else for safekeeping, which would count as an unauthorized transfer.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Transfers of National Firearms Act Firearms in Decedents’ Estates The transfer to an heir uses ATF Form 5, the Application for Tax Exempt Transfer and Registration of a Firearm. The heir submits FD-258 fingerprint cards and waits for ATF approval before taking possession. A lawful heir is anyone named in the will or, if there is none, anyone entitled under the intestacy law of the state where the owner last lived. The heir must still be eligible to possess firearms; if they’re a prohibited person, the ATF denies the application.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. NFA Handbook – Chapter 9 – Transfers of NFA Firearms A trust sidesteps most of this: because the suppressor is registered to the trust rather than to an individual, successor trustees can continue possessing it without a transfer.
The Consequences of Getting It Wrong
Federal law makes it illegal to possess an NFA firearm that isn’t registered to you, to make one without approval, to transfer one outside the proper process, or to alter or remove the required markings.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts Willful violations carry up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties Given that the tax stamp itself now costs nothing, there is no rational reason to cut corners on the paperwork.