NFA update (October 2026)
In an Oct 12 court filing, DOJ confirmed ATF will no longer enforce the challenged NFA provisions against anyone, but argued the injunction protects only the plaintiffs and specified persons; everyone else relies on enforcement discretion ATF could reverse. See ATF's NFA transfer guidance update.
If you're looking into buying an NFA firearm, you've probably heard of the ATF Form 4, but you may not be sure exactly what it is, when to use it, or how it works.
Want the big picture? Start with our NFA guide.
And if you looked into it a year ago, a lot has changed. Here's the short version for 2026:
2026 Form 4 update
- The tax stamp is $0 for silencers, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and Any Other Weapons (AOWs), effective January 1, 2026. It's still $200 for machine guns and destructive devices.
- Form 4 is now optional for some items, federally. Under an October 9, 2026 enforcement policy, ATF says it will no longer require approval or registration for silencers, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs. That's a policy that could be rescinded or changed, not a court ruling, and your state's law still applies. Details below.
- Wait times are days or weeks, not months. ATF's own numbers show individual eForm 4s averaging about 6 days (August 2026).
- Machine guns and destructive devices haven't changed. They still need an approved Form 4 and the $200 tax.
I'm a firearms attorney, but I'm not your attorney, so this isn't legal advice. It is what you need to know to get through a Form 4 without surprises.
First, what are NFA firearms?
NFA firearms are a special category of highly regulated firearms under the National Firearms Act of 1934. This category includes:
- Silencers (suppressors)
- Machine guns (yes, they're legal to own; see who can own a machine gun)
- Short-barreled rifles (SBRs)
- Short-barreled shotguns (SBSs)
- Any Other Weapons (AOWs)
- Destructive devices (DDs)
When one of these is transferred to someone who isn't a qualified FFL/SOT, the transfer has to be applied for and approved by ATF in advance. That application is the ATF Form 4. It's also how the transfer tax gets paid, which is now $0 for most NFA firearms and $200 for machine guns and destructive devices.
This guide covers everything you need to know about the ATF Form 4 process.
What is an ATF Form 4?
The ATF Form 4 is used to transfer an already-registered NFA firearm to someone who isn't a qualified FFL/SOT, like an individual, a trust, or a corporation.
ATF's "Form 4" is actually ATF Form 5320.4, the "Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid)." (Older versions called it the "Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm.") The current version is Revised December 2025, and ATF says previous editions are obsolete, so don't use an old PDF you saved years ago.