$4,706

The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ lowered the tax stamp fee from $200 to $0 for suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and short-barreled shotguns (SBSs). It takes effect in January 2026.

During negotiations over the bill, Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, proposed a $1 tax stamp fee instead of a $0 charge (It was defeated.)  Why would an anti-2A Senator propose a $1 tax?   Because he wanted to be sure the path to increasing the tax stamp charge was kept open.  A tax must have a revenue-raising purpose to be constitutional. Since a $0 tax stamp generates no revenue, the government will struggle to defend the tax stamp in court; the entire tax stamp idea could be thrown out.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

That same Senator Murphy has proposed an amendment to H.R. 3944, (the 2026 appropriations bill for military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs,) that would raise the tax to $4,709! It would also impose a $55 tax on actions currently exempt under the code.

"If we want to save lives in this country, we have to find a way, come hell or high water, to stop mass legalization of silencers in this country," said Murphy in a press conference last month.  But Senator Murphy failed to quote any statistics as to how many people are killed in any year by a suppressed firearm. 

Suppressors are now legal in 42 states, (New York not being one of them.)  A study of Criminal Use of Firearm Silencers by Paul A Clark states: “The data indicates that use of silenced firearms in crime is a rare occurrence, and is a minor problem.”  That’s why Senator Murphy isn’t quoting any statistics!

Socialism says it creates equality but every socialist society in history has created a two-tiered system; the elites (government and the rich) and everyone else.  This proposal is right in line with those principles.  Murphy would establish a two-tiered system for the Second Amendment, where the rich will be able to exercise rights that the middle class and those in poverty cannot financially afford.

There is a reasonable chance that this amendment may be rejected on technical grounds.  But Murphy’s amendment is a warning to all gun owners as to what will happen if he and his anti-2A cohorts ever get back in the Senate majority.  They can’t repeal 2A but they can price it out of the reach of ordinary law-abiding Americans.