ATF: 1.5 million suppressors in circulation, all-time high

By Chris Eger

Statistical data from the ATF shows more than 5.5 million NFA items are currently registered, including 1.5 million suppressors. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
The number of National Firearm Act items saw a spike last year — including a 10 percent bump in suppressors and 16 percent rise in the short-barreled rifles registered — according to new data released by federal regulators.
The information comes from the latest Firearms Commerce Report, released at the end of July, which also contains information about domestic firearms manufacturing, as well as the importation and exportation of firearms. The report provides an overview of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, which is the federal list of all items, such as suppressors, SBRs, short-barreled shotguns, destructive devices and any other weapons logged under the NFA as of February 2018, and updates figures dating back to April 2017.
Based on the 10-month spread between this report and last year’s, the overall numbers of NFA regulated items peaked at 5.5 million, up from 5.2 million in 2017 and 4.4 in 2016. The largest increase in the data came from an additional 129,768 suppressors added to the NFRTR for a total of 1,489,791 silencers carried on the list, a jump of some

Source: Guns.com