National Firearms Act

National Firearms Act

Long title	An Act to provide for the taxation of manufacturers, importers, and dealers in certain firearms and machine guns, to tax the sale or other disposal of such weapons, and to restrict importation and regulate interstate transportation thereof.
Acronyms (colloquial)	NFA
Nicknames	National Firearms Act of 1934
Enacted by	the 73rd United States Congress
Effective	July 26, 1934[1]
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 73–474
Statutes at Large	48 Stat. 1236
Codification
Titles amended	26 U.S.C.: Internal Revenue Code
U.S.C. sections created	I.R.C. ch. 53 § 5801 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 9741 by Robert L. Doughton (D–NC) on May 28, 1934 Committee consideration by House Ways and Means, Senate Finance Passed the House on June 13, 1934 (Passed) Passed the Senate on June 18, 1934 (Passed) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 26, 1934
United States Supreme Court cases
Sonzinsky v. United States, 300 U.S. 506 (1937) United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939) Haynes v. United States, 390 U.S. 85 (1968) United States v. Freed, 401 U.S. 601 (1971) United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Co., 504 U.S. 505 (1992) Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600 (1994) Garland v. Cargill, No. 22-976, 602 U.S. ___ (2024)

Firearm legal topics of the
United States
Amendment II Assault weapon Assault weapons legislation Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Bump stocks Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act Campus carry in the U.S. Concealed carry in the U.S. Connecticut Children's Safety Act Constitutional carry Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Federal Assault Weapons Ban Federal Firearms Act of 1938 Federal Firearms License Firearm case law Firearm Owners Protection Act Gun Control Act of 1968 Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) Gun law in the U.S. Gun laws in the U.S. by state Gun politics in the U.S. High-capacity magazine ban History of concealed carry in the U.S. International treaties for arms control National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) National Firearms Act (NFA) NY SAFE Act Open carry in the U.S. Right to keep and bear arms in the U.S. Second Amendment sanctuary Sullivan Act (New York) Suppressor Tiahrt Amendment Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
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The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, 48 Stat. 1236 was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as I.R.C. ch. 53. The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms and mandates the registration of those firearms. The NFA is also referred to as Title II of the federal firearms laws, with the Gun Control Act of 1968 ("GCA") as Title I.

All transfers of ownership of registered NFA firearms must be done through the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (the "NFA registry").^[2] The NFA also requires that the permanent transport of NFA firearms across state lines by the owner must be reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Temporary transports of some items, most notably suppressors (also referred to as silencers), do not need to be reported.