Washington D.C. – On July 23rd, the Trump Administration posted two coordinated interim final rules, transferring “sound suppressors for non-automatic and semi-automatic firearms” from State Department jurisdiction to the Commerce Department. The new rules, which will take effect on November 20, 2026, will allow American suppressor manufacturers to compete with certain products in commercial markets abroad.
“With this change, the Trump Administration has taken a major step towards allowing American hunters to travel with their suppressors and American businesses to compete in thriving, well-established international commercial markets,” said Knox Williams, Executive Director of the American Suppressor Association. “For more than a decade, the ASA has led the charge to legalize the commercial exportation of suppressors. Not only will American hunters be able to better protect their hearing, but this change will also create hundreds of jobs at a time when our country needs them most.”
The effective prohibition on the commercial exportation of suppressors was based on the bureaucratic misconception that suppressors, also known as silencers, are capable of eliminating the noise of a gunshot. Simply put, they cannot. On average, suppressors reduce the noise of a gunshot by 20 – 35 decibels (dB), roughly the same sound reduction as earplugs or earmuffs.
According to the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA), “although firearm suppressors do not completely eliminate the risk of [noise-induced hearing loss] from firearm noise, the risk can be significantly reduced…Therefore, NHCA supports the use of firearm noise suppressors…to reduce hazardous firearm noise exposures.”
Join us in the fight to help protect and expand your right to own and use suppressors by becoming an ASA Member at www.ASAMember.com.