Pro-Rights Groups Manage To Scuttle Virginia’s Proposed $500 Suppressor Tax

February 16, 2026
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Victory for the Silencer Squad: Virginia's $500 Suppressor Tax Gets Blown Away in Committee In a unanimous smackdown, Virginia lawmakers have tabled a sneaky proposal for a $500 state tax on suppressors—those hearing-safe accessories demonized by anti-gunners as silencers straight out of a spy thriller. Pro-2A groups like the Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gun Owners of America flooded the committee with coordinated testimony and a torrent of grassroots calls, emails, and visits, forcing the measure into limbo. This isn't just a win; it's a masterclass in how organized Second Amendment activism can dismantle punitive sin taxes designed to price law-abiding citizens out of their rights. Context matters here: Suppressors have been federally legal since the 1934 National Firearms Act (with its own $200 tax, unchanged for 90 years), and Virginia's move echoed failed schemes in states like Colorado and Illinois, where similar hikes aimed to fund anti-gun bureaucracies while eroding NFA item ownership. Proponents cloaked it as public safety, but let's call it what it is—a backdoor registration and revenue grab amid rising suppressor sales (over 3 million registered nationwide per ATF data). The tabled bill, HB 2, now stalls until next session, but this unanimous committee vote (yes, even from Democrats) signals shifting winds post-2024 elections, where pro-rights majorities flipped key statehouses. For the 2A community, the implications are electric: It proves everyday carriers—hunters protecting their ears, range rats dodging decibels, and home defenders—can outmaneuver elites when mobilized. Expect copycat defenses in red and purple states eyeing ATF suppressor deregulation (hello, SHORT Act momentum). Stay vigilant, Virginia; for now means reload and watch the horizon. This is how we keep the right to quiet self-defense alive and affordable.

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Victory for the Silencer Squad: Virginia’s $500 Suppressor Tax Gets Blown Away in Committee

In a unanimous smackdown, Virginia lawmakers have tabled a sneaky proposal for a $500 state tax on suppressors—those hearing-safe accessories demonized by anti-gunners as silencers straight out of a spy thriller. Pro-2A groups like the Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gun Owners of America flooded the committee with coordinated testimony and a torrent of grassroots calls, emails, and visits, forcing the measure into limbo. This isn’t just a win; it’s a masterclass in how organized Second Amendment activism can dismantle punitive sin taxes designed to price law-abiding citizens out of their rights.

Context matters here: Suppressors have been federally legal since the 1934 National Firearms Act (with its own $200 tax, unchanged for 90 years), and Virginia’s move echoed failed schemes in states like Colorado and Illinois, where similar hikes aimed to fund anti-gun bureaucracies while eroding NFA item ownership. Proponents cloaked it as public safety, but let’s call it what it is—a backdoor registration and revenue grab amid rising suppressor sales (over 3 million registered nationwide per ATF data). The tabled bill, HB 2, now stalls until next session, but this unanimous committee vote (yes, even from Democrats) signals shifting winds post-2024 elections, where pro-rights majorities flipped key statehouses.

For the 2A community, the implications are electric: It proves everyday carriers—hunters protecting their ears, range rats dodging decibels, and home defenders—can outmaneuver elites when mobilized. Expect copycat defenses in red and purple states eyeing ATF suppressor deregulation (hello, SHORT Act momentum). Stay vigilant, Virginia; for now means reload and watch the horizon. This is how we keep the right to quiet self-defense alive and affordable.

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