Montana Plans to Deregulate Suppressors and SBRs in 2027
Montana Republicans want to strip state-level regulation from suppressors and short-barreled firearms when the 2027 legislative session opens. The push follows newly issued ATF guidance that came out of recent federal litigation. The NRA has named the effort a top priority for Montana this session. The announced plans describe the goal, not final bill language, so the details will change as the bill moves. Montana would join a short list of states that stop treating these items as a state-level problem, and it would do so by statute rather than by a prosecutor's choice.
Key Details
The facts currently on the record are straightforward. Here is what we know:
- Who: Montana Republicans, who announced the legislation.
- What: Deregulate suppressors and short-barreled firearms at the state level.
- When: The 2027 legislative session, which begins in January.
- Trigger: Newly issued ATF guidance following recent litigation. The ATF has already conceded the federal registration fight over suppressors and short-barreled long guns.
- Backers: The NRA thanked Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Speaker Ler, Representative Mitchell, Senator Galt, and Senator Glimm for their leadership and support.
- Missouri comparison: Missouri's attorney general has said she will not enforce that state's laws on these items.
- Georgia comparison: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has not made a similar move, and his office did not answer repeated press inquiries asking whether he was considering one.
Background
The National Firearms Act of 1934 put suppressors and short-barreled rifles and shotguns under federal registration and a $200 transfer tax. The Gun Control Act of 1968 kept that framework in place. For decades, the $200 stamp was the centerpiece of the system. Congress changed the math in 2025 when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the NFA tax on these items to zero, effective January 1, 2026. Gun rights groups then argued that registration no longer had a taxing power basis. The ATF has since accepted defeat on that point in litigation.
Many states wrote their own versions of the federal rules. Those state laws were tied to federal registration. Their purpose was to give local prosecutors a way to charge people who skipped the federal paperwork. Federal enforcement has changed, but the state statutes did not change with it. They remain on the books and remain enforceable until a legislature repeals them or a court strikes them down. That gap is the reason Montana's legislation matters.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Montana residents are the first people affected. If the 2027 bill passes, Montanans could buy, own, and carry suppressors and SBRs without a state-level registration step. The practical effect depends on the final text, so read the bill when it drops, not the press release.
Gun owners in other states should pay closer attention than they might expect. A state that still requires registration for these items can charge you under its own code, even though the federal government no longer enforces its version. Check your state's statutes today. Look for language that references NFA items, suppressors, or short-barreled firearms. Some states ban suppressors outright, and those bans carry their own penalties.
Federal paperwork still applies. The tax is zero, but ATF approval through the eForm 4 process remains the rule for suppressor purchases. Keep your approved forms, receipts, and transfer records in one place. If you travel with a suppressor, know the rules of every state you cross. Do not assume a neighboring state matches your home state.
DownRange Analysis
A legislature repealing its own law beats a prosecutor declining to enforce it. Enforcement discretion disappears with the next attorney general, and that is the problem Montana's approach fixes. Under Bruen, the government must justify a firearms restriction by pointing to historical tradition. A registration scheme that exists only because a federal tax once justified it has a weak historical footing in the state context. Expect challengers to press that argument in every state that still has one.
The market should respond with more interest in suppressors and SBRs once state-level friction drops. Dealers in Montana should prepare for demand. Owners in other states should not wait on Helena to act. Keep your paperwork clean, know your state code, and contact your own legislators. Ask them one question: when will you repeal the state version of the NFA? Georgia's silence on this issue tells you where the pressure needs to go.
