Court ruling changes how silencers and short-barrel rifles can be purchased

What This Story Is About

• A new court ruling has changed how silencers and short-barrel rifles can be purchased, replacing fingerprints, photos and months-long waits with a same-day background check.

Why It Matters

• The ruling affects how and when gun owners — currently limited to plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including GOA members — can buy suppressors, with broader implications pending an ATF decision.

What Happens Next

• The ATF must issue a decision before the change applies more widely, and the Justice Department still has time to appeal the ruling.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A new court ruling has changed how silencers and short-barrel rifles can be purchased, replacing the previous federal requirements — including fingerprints, photographs and months-long wait times — with a same-day background check.

Under the new ruling, buyers no longer need to complete the additional paperwork or be placed on a federal registry to purchase a silencer, also known as a suppressor, or a short-barrel rifle. The process now mirrors the standard background check used for most firearm purchases.

Robert Wear, owner of Tennessee Silencer — a gun shop in Seymour — said his business saw an immediate response.

“Well, as of today, we’ve answered probably hundreds of phone calls so far this morning,” Wear said. “People wanting to know if they can come in and buy one without all the onerous requirements we’ve done in the past.”

Wear cited changing development patterns as part of the demand for suppressors.

“America, especially in Tennessee, is not as rural as it used to be,” Wear said. “It’s harder to find a place to shoot without bothering somebody from the noise.”

The ruling applies only to plaintiffs in the lawsuit — including members of Gun Owners of America (GOA) — until the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gives further guidance. Tennessee Silencer is a GOA member, but Wear said the shop is not yet selling suppressors under the new process.

“I’m worried that there’s going to be some additional paperwork they want to change or something extra they want to do,” Wear said. “And I’m afraid to start giving them out with a regular background check until I hear from them.”

GOA spokesperson Stephen Williford said the ruling represents a change in access for gun owners.

“I’m going to walk in, and I’m like a free man, and I’m going to purchase a suppressor this morning,” Williford said.

Williford also said access to suppressors adds to the skill of shooting and personal protection.

“But on the worst day of your life, your skills that you learn with a firearm might save your life and the lives of other people,” Williford said.

Gun-control group Giffords said the Justice Department’s decision is a failure to defend public safety, arguing silencers and dangerous weapons can now more easily reach the wrong hands and be used to harm innocent people.

The Justice Department still has time to appeal the ruling. In a recent statement, the department said it respects Second Amendment rights and is currently assessing the impact of the court’s ruling.