Suppressor Laws by State

Suppressors are legal to own in 42 states. What changed in August 2026 is that the states now sort into three tiers, and the tier decides whether a Form 4 stands between you and your suppressor.

As of August 14, 2026

This table has changed twice this year and it will change again. If you are reading this weeks from now, check the date above and the hub changelog before relying on a row.

The three tiers

Banned: 8 states plus D.C.

California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. ban suppressor possession under their own law. The $0 tax and the August ruling change nothing here. Federal paperwork cannot make a suppressor legal where state law says it is not.

Legal, but state law requires federal registration: 15 states

Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin wrote suppressor legality into state law as "legal if federally registered." So even a buyer covered by the federal ruling still files the $0 eForm 4 in these states, because the state statute demands that federal registration exist. Until legislatures amend that language, the Form 4 is the path here for everyone.

Free states: the other 27

In these states, nothing in state law ties suppressors to the federal registry. Buyers covered by the August ruling can purchase through a covered channel the way they would buy a rifle: Form 4473, NICS check, same day. Everyone else, and every purchase through a non-covered dealer, is a $0 eForm 4 and about a week.

All 50 states plus D.C.

"Covered buyers" means parties to Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF: members of the plaintiff organizations and customers of the commercial plaintiffs in qualifying transactions. Full breakdown here. Everywhere legal, the floor is the same: 21 or older for a dealer transfer, a resident of the state, and able to pass a background check.

Tier assignments follow the reconciled August 2026 counts published after the ruling took effect, principally Silencer Shop's 27-state free list, cross-checked against the ammo.com state survey and World Population Review's 2026 tracker.

What moved at the state level in 2026

• South Dakota removed suppressors from its state controlled-weapons definition on February 10, 2026, cleaning up its own law ahead of the federal fight. (Sportsmen's Alliance)
• Ban-state repeal bills moved in several of the 8 ban states this year. None passed as of July 2026.
• Cleanup bills to watch: Kansas, Virginia, and Georgia have been flagged for statutory cleanup that could move states between tiers. We update this page when any of it lands.