Opinion
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Tombstone, Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- The House has passed their version of a huge budget reconciliation bill, which includes a Santa’s sack full of budget cuts, budget increases, regulatory reforms, and tax changes, including a provision removing silencers from the National Firearms Act (NFA), treating them like guns instead of like machineguns or destructive devices.
The inclusion of the silencer provisions was a direct response to pressure from gun owners and gun rights groups, after Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee had scrapped the Hearing Protection Act in favor of a provision that drops the $200 tax on the transfer of silencers – but not the $200 tax on making one – and leaving the registration and background check provisions in place. The Ways and Means Committee alsotossed out a proposal that would have removed short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and quirky guns that don’t look like guns, officially referred to as “Any Other Weapons” (AOWs), from NFA tax and registration requirements.
Most bills are subject to the filibuster, which means that one senator can stop all progress on the bill unless supporters can muster at least 60 votes to cut off debate and move the bill forward. A Budget Reconciliation Bill, because it deals with only tax and spending issues, is not subject to filibuster and can be passed with a simple majority vote in the Senate. Of course, there are rules about what types of provisions can be included in a reconciliation bill, which is why things like concealed carry reciprocity can’t be added. While there are still arguments ongoing regarding whether removing classes of items from the NFA is appropriate in a Reconciliation bill, lawyers and experts from the Republican side insist that such measures fall well within the “Byrd Rule,” a standard established many years ago by Democratic Senator (and former KKK member) Robert Byrd.
2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Screen Grab Page 41
The NRA, GOA, NAGR, and other national groups, as well as dozens of state grassroots groups all pushed hard for inclusion of the measure, and members of the House felt the heat and saw the light, passing the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” with the silencer deregulation provisions (page 41), and forwarding it on to the Senate.
After that, assuming the Senate makes changes to the bill, the matter will go to a Reconciliation Committee, a conference of Senators and Representatives who will be tasked with reconciling the House and Senate versions of the package, sending it back to both houses for a final vote before it will be forwarded to President Trump for his signature.
Between now and then, anything could happen. At least one solid Second Amendment supporter in the Senate, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has publicly state that he opposes the current language of the bill and will vote against it. His opposition has nothing to do with the silencer provision, but rather is based on the amount of spending included in the package. It’s a safe bet that every Democrat in the Senate will vote against the House version, just as all Democrats in the House did. That means everything will hinge on two or three Republicans in the Senate.
There’s a slight chance that Senators could try to amend the NFA further, removing short-barrelled rifles, shotguns, and AOWs from the NFA back into the bill. Some gun groups, such as GOA, are encouraging members to push for this. Other groups, like the NRA, are asking members to focus on adopting the written House bill, which seems like the most likely path to success.
At the NRA Board meeting in Atlanta that followed the NRA’s Annual Meeting of Members, I encouraged NRA-ILA to take a broader stance, supporting total removal of silencers, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs from the NFA, but ILA Executive Director John Commerford said they had already established the ILA’s focus on silencer deregulation before measures to remove the other categories of guns had been filed. He didn’t see the broader initiative as politically viable and chose to instead maintain focus on the deregulation of silencers as a more realistic goal.
A group of grassroots leaders from around the country, including several sitting members of the NRA Board of Directors, have joined forces to submit letters to Congress, and to encourage their members and followers to contact their Representatives and Senators to urge that they vote for the House version, and if feasible, also vote to include the broader NFA reform language.
My crystal ball says the most likely scenario is for Senate Republicans to bicker and debate for a bit, then to push to advance the House version without any changes. That is the “safest” thing for them to do, and politicians are big on safety, especially when the safety of their own seat might be on the chopping block. Any changes to the bill mean more wrangling in the House, risking a collapse of the whole structure, and drawing the process out for weeks or months.
Though many Republican senators have issues with the House bill, almost all of them are going to be more inclined to accept the stuff they don’t like, rather than upsetting the whole apple cart. Remarkably, Republican pols seem to be slowly waking up to the fact that a pro-rights position on guns can earn GunVoters’ votes, while an anti-gun vote is unlikely to ever convince an anti-rights voter to vote GOP.
That doesn’t mean that we get to write our own ticket, though. The Republican majorities in the House and Senate are razor thin, and there are FUD Republicans among them who are not strong supporters of the Second Amendment. Add in the fact that most legislation requires a 60-vote majority in the Senate to advance to a vote, and you realize that beyond this “Hail Mary” of a Reconciliation bill, passage of anything worthwhile through the Senate will be next to impossible for this term, and likely beyond.
Rather than letting this deadlock be a source of frustration that makes you walk away from political involvement, turn that frustration into motivation to get even more involved in the process. Several Republicans who are historically weak on guns will face primaries in 2026. Every seat in the House will be up for election, as will 33 seats in the Senate. History and conventional wisdom say that the party holding the White House loses seats in the midterms. Rather than allowing that to happen, potentially giving Congress back over to Democratic Party majorities, GunVoters must be preparing now to turn out in unprecedented numbers, especially in the primaries, and deliver victories to pro-rights candidates and majorities for the most pro-rights party. Rather than punishing Republicans who might have fallen short, punish the Democrats who are pulling in the opposite direction.
Get on the phone to your senators and tell them you want to see the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed as is, or better yet, with the inclusion of the SHORT Act, removing SBR’s, SBS’s, and AOW’s from the NFA. Call them every day with this simple message until the voting is over.
Stay tuned to AmmoLand News for the latest news and updates, and subscribe to Alerts from your favorite rights groups so you don’t miss important news. Also, consider dropping a few bucks on the groups that are working hard to protect your rights. The cost of a box of ammo can help to inform hundreds of sleeping GunVoters.
Embrace the momentum of this major house win, and help turn that momentum into a win in the Senate. Let’s put suppressor regulations aside by the Fourth of July!
Call your senators today at 202-224-3121.
About Jeff Knox:
Jeff Knox is a dedicated political activist and the director of The Firearms Coalition, following in the footsteps of his father, Neal Knox. In 2024, Jeff was elected to the NRA Board of Directors, underscoring his lifelong commitment to protecting the Second Amendment. The Knox family has played a pivotal role in the ongoing struggle for gun rights, a legacy documented in the book Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War, authored by Jeff’s brother, Chris Knox.
Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, The Firearms Coalition is a network of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs, and civil rights organizations. The Coalition supports grassroots efforts by providing education, analysis of current issues, and a historical perspective on the gun rights movement. For more information, visit www.FirearmsCoalition.org.
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iStock Wallentine 104257649
Tombstone, Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- The House has passed their version of a huge budget reconciliation bill, which includes a Santa’s sack full of budget cuts, budget increases, regulatory reforms, and tax changes, including a provision removing silencers from the National Firearms Act (NFA), treating them like guns instead of like machineguns or destructive devices.
The inclusion of the silencer provisions was a direct response to pressure from gun owners and gun rights groups, after Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee had scrapped the Hearing Protection Act in favor of a provision that drops the $200 tax on the transfer of silencers – but not the $200 tax on making one – and leaving the registration and background check provisions in place. The Ways and Means Committee alsotossed out a proposal that would have removed short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and quirky guns that don’t look like guns, officially referred to as “Any Other Weapons” (AOWs), from NFA tax and registration requirements.
The unique thing about a congressional Budget Reconciliation Bill is that it is immune to Senate filibuster rules.
Most bills are subject to the filibuster, which means that one senator can stop all progress on the bill unless supporters can muster at least 60 votes to cut off debate and move the bill forward. A Budget Reconciliation Bill, because it deals with only tax and spending issues, is not subject to filibuster and can be passed with a simple majority vote in the Senate. Of course, there are rules about what types of provisions can be included in a reconciliation bill, which is why things like concealed carry reciprocity can’t be added. While there are still arguments ongoing regarding whether removing classes of items from the NFA is appropriate in a Reconciliation bill, lawyers and experts from the Republican side insist that such measures fall well within the “Byrd Rule,” a standard established many years ago by Democratic Senator (and former KKK member) Robert Byrd.
Getting the removal of silencers included in the House version of the Reconciliation bill was a major victory.
2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Screen Grab Page 41
The NRA, GOA, NAGR, and other national groups, as well as dozens of state grassroots groups all pushed hard for inclusion of the measure, and members of the House felt the heat and saw the light, passing the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” with the silencer deregulation provisions (page 41), and forwarding it on to the Senate.
Now the focus is on the US Senate, where it will be reviewed and possibly modified before going to a vote.
After that, assuming the Senate makes changes to the bill, the matter will go to a Reconciliation Committee, a conference of Senators and Representatives who will be tasked with reconciling the House and Senate versions of the package, sending it back to both houses for a final vote before it will be forwarded to President Trump for his signature.
Between now and then, anything could happen. At least one solid Second Amendment supporter in the Senate, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has publicly state that he opposes the current language of the bill and will vote against it. His opposition has nothing to do with the silencer provision, but rather is based on the amount of spending included in the package. It’s a safe bet that every Democrat in the Senate will vote against the House version, just as all Democrats in the House did. That means everything will hinge on two or three Republicans in the Senate.
There’s a slight chance that Senators could try to amend the NFA further, removing short-barrelled rifles, shotguns, and AOWs from the NFA back into the bill. Some gun groups, such as GOA, are encouraging members to push for this. Other groups, like the NRA, are asking members to focus on adopting the written House bill, which seems like the most likely path to success.
At the NRA Board meeting in Atlanta that followed the NRA’s Annual Meeting of Members, I encouraged NRA-ILA to take a broader stance, supporting total removal of silencers, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs from the NFA, but ILA Executive Director John Commerford said they had already established the ILA’s focus on silencer deregulation before measures to remove the other categories of guns had been filed. He didn’t see the broader initiative as politically viable and chose to instead maintain focus on the deregulation of silencers as a more realistic goal.
A group of grassroots leaders from around the country, including several sitting members of the NRA Board of Directors, have joined forces to submit letters to Congress, and to encourage their members and followers to contact their Representatives and Senators to urge that they vote for the House version, and if feasible, also vote to include the broader NFA reform language.
My crystal ball says the most likely scenario is for Senate Republicans to bicker and debate for a bit, then to push to advance the House version without any changes. That is the “safest” thing for them to do, and politicians are big on safety, especially when the safety of their own seat might be on the chopping block. Any changes to the bill mean more wrangling in the House, risking a collapse of the whole structure, and drawing the process out for weeks or months.
Though many Republican senators have issues with the House bill, almost all of them are going to be more inclined to accept the stuff they don’t like, rather than upsetting the whole apple cart. Remarkably, Republican pols seem to be slowly waking up to the fact that a pro-rights position on guns can earn GunVoters’ votes, while an anti-gun vote is unlikely to ever convince an anti-rights voter to vote GOP.
We currently have the most pro-rights House, Senate, and White House we’ve seen in modern times.
That doesn’t mean that we get to write our own ticket, though. The Republican majorities in the House and Senate are razor thin, and there are FUD Republicans among them who are not strong supporters of the Second Amendment. Add in the fact that most legislation requires a 60-vote majority in the Senate to advance to a vote, and you realize that beyond this “Hail Mary” of a Reconciliation bill, passage of anything worthwhile through the Senate will be next to impossible for this term, and likely beyond.
Rather than letting this deadlock be a source of frustration that makes you walk away from political involvement, turn that frustration into motivation to get even more involved in the process. Several Republicans who are historically weak on guns will face primaries in 2026. Every seat in the House will be up for election, as will 33 seats in the Senate. History and conventional wisdom say that the party holding the White House loses seats in the midterms. Rather than allowing that to happen, potentially giving Congress back over to Democratic Party majorities, GunVoters must be preparing now to turn out in unprecedented numbers, especially in the primaries, and deliver victories to pro-rights candidates and majorities for the most pro-rights party. Rather than punishing Republicans who might have fallen short, punish the Democrats who are pulling in the opposite direction.
Get on the phone to your senators and tell them you want to see the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed as is, or better yet, with the inclusion of the SHORT Act, removing SBR’s, SBS’s, and AOW’s from the NFA. Call them every day with this simple message until the voting is over.
Stay tuned to AmmoLand News for the latest news and updates, and subscribe to Alerts from your favorite rights groups so you don’t miss important news. Also, consider dropping a few bucks on the groups that are working hard to protect your rights. The cost of a box of ammo can help to inform hundreds of sleeping GunVoters.
Embrace the momentum of this major house win, and help turn that momentum into a win in the Senate. Let’s put suppressor regulations aside by the Fourth of July!
Call your senators today at 202-224-3121.
About Jeff Knox:
Jeff Knox is a dedicated political activist and the director of The Firearms Coalition, following in the footsteps of his father, Neal Knox. In 2024, Jeff was elected to the NRA Board of Directors, underscoring his lifelong commitment to protecting the Second Amendment. The Knox family has played a pivotal role in the ongoing struggle for gun rights, a legacy documented in the book Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War, authored by Jeff’s brother, Chris Knox.
Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, The Firearms Coalition is a network of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs, and civil rights organizations. The Coalition supports grassroots efforts by providing education, analysis of current issues, and a historical perspective on the gun rights movement. For more information, visit www.FirearmsCoalition.org.
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