Welcome to NFA Buyers Guide. This is the place to learn why the National Firearms Act exists, how it grew from a 1934 tax law into the rules that cover machine guns, short-barreled guns, suppressors and destructive devices, and how to buy Title II gear the right way today.
NFA Buyers Guide is part of the Gun Websites Firearms Network, built by shooters for shooters. The goal is simple: know the history, know the law, and own your gear with confidence.
New to the NFA? Start here
Learn why the law was written, follow its 90-year timeline, then work through the steps for the item you want. Our guide walks you through it in order.
Why the NFA exists
The NFA was Congress answering the gangster era. Prohibition-fueled gangs, the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, outlaws like John Dillinger and a gunman’s attack on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed lawmakers to act. They did it with a tax: $200 on each machine gun, short-barreled gun and silencer, about what the guns themselves cost.
What you’ll find here
The history
Why the NFA was written, who it targeted and how a tax became a registry.
The timeline
Ninety years of the NFA, from 1934 to the October 2026 ATF policy change.
The law today
What federal law requires now, item by item, and where state law takes over.
The biggest change since 1934
The tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and AOWs dropped to $0 on January 1, 2026. A federal court then ruled their registration unconstitutional, and on October 9, 2026 ATF stopped enforcing registration and approval for those four items nationwide. Machine guns and destructive devices still carry the full process and the $200 tax.
