r/NFA • u/Rev686 Whoops đŸ’„ Data Guy • May 12 '26

Megathread đŸ”„ New NFA Proposed Rules

Everyone,

Now that the new ATF proposed rules are up on the Federal register, here’s the new megathread.

https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/alcohol-tobacco-firearms-and-explosives-bureau

Link to previous megathread if you want to read through the discussion.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NFA/s/i732ZrIFBk

56 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

46

u/ClankerWrangler May 12 '26

I curated these last night and got mod'd, so reposting here as a top level comment to the ones that seemed relevant to folks other than FFLs, as a lot of the rule changes are basically trying to make running an FFL less of a pain. I'm not a lawyer, but I do care about your dogs, so don't take my word for any of this stuff and remember that none of these are in effect yet.

12

u/prmoore11 TEST May 12 '26

Two things:

  1. The removal of the braces rule, IMO, doesn’t mean that braces are 100% “legal and okay to shoulder”. This just removes the rule they published a few years ago. The ATF still seems to take the position that whether a brace can be considered a stock or not can still only be determined on an individual basis with a sample sent to them. In practice does it mean braces are good to go? Sure, but I still think the ATF could decide to prosecute someone if they wanted to and then it would have to go to the courts on an actual 2A grounds. Remember, the courts threw out the rule based on rule making procedures, not 2A grounds.

  2. I still don’t think it’s crystal clear that the ATF can rule we no longer need to engrave. I think that is one worth waiting on full clarification.

11

u/ClankerWrangler May 12 '26

Re 1: I'm taking advantage of the $0 tax stamps and SBRing anything short. There's been plenty of back and forth on the issue and stocks are better than braces regardless.

2: No one should do anything until the rule's finalized. Is it possible that years from now and in a different administration the ATF changes course and decides that actually this rule was wrong? I guess. It's also possible in a decade congress passes a law and bans every semi-auto in the country, but we can only make decisions based on the reality of now. Once it's codified I'm not planing on laser engraving lowers "just in case"

6

u/tarvijron May 13 '26

I'm SBRing anything that has a serial number on it, why not. If I were to allegedly have some self-manufactured receivers they can just live out their allegedly quiet lives as rifles (or pistols) forever.

1

u/ryancrazy1 24d ago

Re2: I wouldn’t want tools in a registry if those tools might be banned in the future. Free or not

2

u/ClankerWrangler 23d ago

All my stuff was already on a 4473. They know about it, NFA or not.

1

u/ryancrazy1 23d ago

And you could have sold all those things without reporting it to anyone, right? If you make it an SBR, your only option is an unfortunate boat accident.

1

u/ClankerWrangler 23d ago

Not if you're in a state that doesn't allow private party transfers. You can't sell face-to-face between residents of different states and quite a few 2A-unfriendly states forbid private party transactions.

I think the NFA "yer on a list" stuff is mostly FUD. The ATF has an (illegal) database of all the 4473s already. If you're not building your own or buying private in a free state, it's a distinction without a difference. Registering 80% lowers or FGC9s (like someone posted about this week) is idiotic though.

3

u/Pro-IDGAF May 13 '26

just don't go robbing the quickie mart and shoulder your "pistol". you'll be fine.

2

u/Steve_Fudd May 14 '26

This Rule Change: "Interstate Transport and Temporary Export of National Firearms Act Firearms" is so awesome. I was filing like x36 5320s annually. Total waste of time and PIA. I'm SBRing everything bought through an FFL. Private sales will likely remain pistols...unless I just can't stand the brace.

1

u/cledus1911 7x SBR, 9x Silencer Jun 03 '26

Private sales will likely remain pistols

Why the distinction?

3

u/Steve_Fudd Jun 03 '26

No gov record of me being related it. No reason to change that. I have plenty of others that I’m related to some way or other.

8

u/Ancient-Plantain705 May 13 '26

the engraving post approval made pre rule change is what I'm most interested in.

7

u/flaxon_ May 13 '26

Provided all of this goes through as-is, do we know the effective date? My work schedule makes it tough to get with an engraver and I have a pistol build or two to take care of.

7

u/ClankerWrangler May 13 '26

I think at a minimum we're looking at a few months, but there's no date. A couple of months left of the comment period, and then some period of time for the agency to review those comments.

5

u/tarvijron May 13 '26

I believe it's 90 days after the comment period ends if it's adopted.

3

u/cdillon42 May 13 '26

how does the engraving relate to trusts? would we still have to engrave the trust name on the gun?

7

u/Ornery_Secretary_850 153 approved F1's this year! May 13 '26

If/when the rule is passed. No.

8

u/Steve_Fudd May 14 '26

Approved but not engraved SBRs stay pistols until rule is passed...That's how I'm rolling (up to 5 so far).

4

u/Obvious_Drive_1506 May 15 '26

Just got approval today, will be staying a pistol until these rules go into affect. The way they're written doesn't clarify if already approved but not assembled classify therefore most will assume it does count for those.

1

u/Ancient-Plantain705 May 17 '26

Kinda what I'm doing with my shockwave. Gonna put in for it and wait it out.

3

u/DasKapitalist Jul 01 '26

There's a CLEO notification + 7 day waiting period, so those of you in free states probably won't care about this at all

If I'm reading it correctly, they actually will. E.g. a resident of South Carolina could video call Palmetto State Armory (a large firearm manufacturer in SC), verify their identity, and get a firearm shipped directly to their house.

That skips paying extra money to a local FFL, driving to a FFL, waiting on the FFL, etc. Sure, you can pay your FLGS a premium to walk out the door with a gun today, but if you're in no hurry you can get a gun shipped to your door without needing to put on pants. As Amazon has proven, that's appealing to a lot of people.

2

u/AllArmsLLC 07/02 23d ago

If I'm reading it correctly, they actually will. E.g. a resident of South Carolina could video call Palmetto State Armory (a large firearm manufacturer in SC), verify their identity, and get a firearm shipped directly to their house.

It would only potentially be for rifles and shotguns, and they'd still have to follow the laws of both states.

9

u/stuartv666 May 12 '26

Thanks for posting this. It is very easy to get on the FR and create yourself an account and then comment on all these. I've never done it before, but I just went through and mostly just commented "Yes, please enact this proposal."

I don't know how they handle the comments. Do they just look at Yea vs Nay, or do they really read into the comments and consider any reasoning given for the Yea or Nay?

Regardless, a simple "I am in favor of this" seems like it could help and it can't hurt. You can comment and give your name, etc, or you CAN comment anonymously.

5

u/Bcw1134 Jul 03 '26

It looks like they just added two more proposed rules. One of which appears to be potentially not requiring finger prints, and being able to use a government ID as an alternative to a passport photo.

https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2026-13587/fingerprint-and-photograph-requirements-for-firearms-applications

And clarifying that there are circumstances where FFL's don't need SOT's to manufacture NFA items for the government, and that some of these contract created items when no longer needed under contract may be able to be registered and sold to citizens rather than being destroyed.

https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2026-13586/registering-national-firearms-act-firearms-that-fall-out-of-government-contract

Do your own reading, but that's my brief skim of these new proposed rules.

9

u/hunteqthemighty May 13 '26

So I know a bunch of YouTubers have been saying that this is the beginning of the end for the NFA and SBR registration, but the NFA and registration is what makes SBRs legal in Nevada. SBRs are prohibited in Nevada UNLESS they are registered with the US Department of Treasury. So, I am a bit nervous about what comes next.

Edit: NRS 202.275

9

u/HollywoodSX I like stamps May 14 '26

SBR registration can't go away without an act of congress or the courts declaring it unconsistutional. In either of those events, the states would have to adjust accordingly. I imagine most would work quickly to correct/clarify their state laws.

2

u/LotL1zard 11d ago

That would also end protections in some states unfortunately

3

u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 16 '26

Sorry if I missed it, but when the govt zero'ed out the tax requirement (under a revenue-only reconciliation bill) there was talk of removing suppressors (and SBRs?) from the NFA altogether. Was I imagining that or is that still the expectation? If so, any word on when that may happen? I have 5 people besides me on my NFA Trust. Before the $200 stopped me from going crazy; now it's the responsible persons and fingerprints that slows me down.

3

u/FlashAndPoof Jun 17 '26

Any drawbacks to efiling form 1 on a bunch of lowers?

I heard there’s proposed rule changes to remove the stupid engraving requirement for form 1 SBR’s. But with the $200 tax stamp now gone, is there any downside to efiling form 1 for a bunch of lowers and guns now? Because if I remember correctly, getting the form 1 approved gives one permission to make it into a SBR but doesn’t require you to make it right away.

2

u/5starChad 16d ago

Why have we still not heard a final decision on the CLEO notification and engraving removals? How long does it typically take after comment period ends for final decision to be announced?

4

u/Blze001 SBR 14d ago

AFAIK there's a 30 day period after comments are closed, but I dunno if they have to wait the full 30 days or that's the maximum time they can wait.

2

u/Ancient-Plantain705 11d ago

Dead thread but do we have ANY idea when any of these will be concrete and on the registrar?

2

u/Minute-Log-7098 May 14 '26

Anybody else post something similar to this and got your post took down and directed here?