II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 401 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove silencers from 

the definition of firearms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. HAGERTY, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. 

KENNEDY, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. VANCE, Mr. BUDD, Mr. BRAUN, Mrs. BRITT, 

Mr. DAINES, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. COTTON, Mrs. FISCHER, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 

Mr. HAWLEY, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove 

silencers from the definition of firearms, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hearing Protection 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EQUAL TREATMENT OF SILENCERS AND FIREARMS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5845(a) of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘(7) any 

4 silencer’’ and all that follows through ‘‘; and (8)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘and (7)’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

7 this section shall apply to calendar quarters beginning 

8 more than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act. 

10 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN SILENCERS. 

11 Section 5841 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(f) FIREARM SILENCERS.—A person acquiring or 

14 possessing a firearm silencer in accordance with chapter 

15 44 of title 18, United States Code, shall be treated as 

16 meeting any registration and licensing requirements of the 

17 National Firearms Act with respect to such silencer.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. PREEMPTION OF CERTAIN STATE LAWS IN RELA19 TION TO FIREARM SILENCERS. 

20 Section 927 of title 18, United States Code, is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Notwith22 standing the preceding sentence, a law of a State or a 

23 political subdivision of a State that imposes a tax, other 

24 than a generally applicable sales or use tax, on making, 

25 transferring, using, possessing, or transporting a firearm 

26 silencer in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or 


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1 imposes a marking, recordkeeping, or registration require2 ment with respect to such a firearm silencer, shall have 

3 no force or effect.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS. 

5 Not later than 365 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall destroy any 

7 registration of a silencer maintained in the National Fire8 arms Registration and Transfer Record pursuant to sec9 tion 5841 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, any ap10 plication to transfer filed under section 5812 of the Inter11 nal Revenue Code of 1986 that identifies the transferee 

12 of a silencer, and any application to make filed under sec13 tion 5822 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that iden14 tifies the maker of a silencer. 

15 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE. 

16 Chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in section 921(a), by striking paragraph 

19 (25) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(25)(A) The terms ‘firearm silencer’ and ‘firearm 

21 muffler’ mean any device for silencing, muffling, or dimin22 ishing the report of a portable firearm, including the key23 stone part of such a device. 

24 ‘‘(B) The term ‘keystone part’— 


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1 ‘‘(i) means, with respect to a firearm silencer or 

2 firearm muffler, an externally visible part of a fire3 arm silencer or firearm muffler, without which a de4 vice capable of silencing, muffling, or diminishing 

5 the report of a portable firearm cannot be assem6 bled; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) does not include any interchangeable parts 

8 designed to mount a firearm silencer or firearm 

9 muffler to a portable firearm.’’; 

10 (2) in section 922(b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘shotgun 

12 or rifle’’ the first place it appears and inserting 

13 ‘‘shotgun, rifle, firearm silencer, or firearm 

14 muffler’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘rifle or 

16 shotgun’’ and inserting ‘‘shotgun, rifle, firearm 

17 silencer, or firearm muffler’’; and 

18 (3) in section 923(i)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘Licensed’’ and inserting 

20 the following: ‘‘(1) In the case of a firearm 

21 other than a firearm silencer or firearm muf22 fler, licensed’’; and 

23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) In the case of a firearm silencer or firearm muf25 fler, licensed importers and licensed manufacturers shall 


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1 identify by means of a serial number engraved or cast on 

2 the keystone part of the firearm silencer or firearm muf3 fler, in such manner as the Attorney General shall by reg4 ulations prescribe, each firearm silencer or firearm muffler 

5 imported or manufactured by such importer or manufac6 turer, except that, if a firearm silencer or firearm muffler 

7 does not have a clearly identifiable keystone part or has 

8 multiple keystone parts, licensed importers or licensed 

9 manufacturers shall submit a request for a marking vari10 ance to the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall 

11 grant such a request except on showing good cause that 

12 marking the firearm silencer or firearm muffler as re13 quested would not further the purposes of this chapter.’’. 

14 SEC. 7. IMPOSITION OF TAX ON FIREARM SILENCERS OR 

15 FIREARM MUFFLERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4181 of the Internal Rev17 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end of 

18 the list relating to ‘‘Articles taxable at 10 percent’’ the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘Firearm silencers or firearm mufflers.’’. 

21 (b) FIREARM SILENCERS; FIREARM MUFFLERS.— 

22 Section 4181 of such Code is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 

24 ‘‘For purposes of this part, the terms ‘firearm si25 lencer’ and ‘firearm muffler’ mean any device for silencVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S401.IS S401

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1 ing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable fire2 arm.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) Section 4181 of such Code is amended by 

5 striking ‘‘other than pistols and revolvers’’ and in6 serting ‘‘other than articles taxable at 10 percent 

7 under this section’’. 

8 (2) Section 4182(b) of such Code is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘firearms, pistols, revolvers, shells, and 

10 cartridges’’ and inserting ‘‘articles described in sec11 tion 4181 and’’. 

12 (3) Section 4182(c)(1) of such Code is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘or firearm’’ and inserting ‘‘firearm, 

14 firearm silencer, or firearm muffler,’’. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to articles sold by the manufac17 turer, producer, or importer in any calendar quarter be18 ginning more than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act. 

Æ 


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