It seems that the feds have had to wade through a year's worth of National Firearms Act forms just in the first four months of 2026. 

In the wake of zero-dollar tax stamps for suppressors and short-barreled firearms becoming a reality on New Year's Day 2026, the ATF's NFA Division has since processed a million forms as of April 23. The American Suppressor Association told Guns.com via email that over half of those are for Form 4 applications for suppressor transfers. 

Of note, for 2024, the most recent year available, the NFA Division processed 1,373,305 forms. The Division only broke a million forms in a single year for the first time in 2011. Going further back, in 2001, only 311,892 forms of all types were processed. 

The big takeaway, however, is the growth in suppressor numbers over that period. 

"As of April 10, 2026, 5,998,065 suppressors were registered in the NFRTR, a number that has likely surpassed 6 million as of today," advised ASA last week. "The number of suppressors registered between Jan. 2026 and April 10, 2026, is almost as many as ALL the suppressors registered between 1934 and 2010 (76 years)."

Below is a chart of selected historical suppressor registration numbers going back to January 2000.
 

Looking a whole lot like "common use" to me. Just saying.  
 

Banner image: Kimber Mako R7 CC with a modular SilencerCo Omega 36M suppressor on the range with Federal Syntech Training Match 124-grain loads, which mimic the same velocity, trajectory, and point of impact as equivalent Federal HST duty ammunition. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)