The Obama administration is considering a new regulation that would require “identification markings” to be stamped into the main body of firearms silencers and mufflers, and not on components of those items that could be removed or damaged.
In a Federal Register notice that will be published on Wednesday, the ATF said its goal is to ensure law enforcement can identify these items and trace them when necessary.
“ATF seeks to address the marking requirements of silencers to ensure that the serial numbers are placed on the part of the silencer that is least likely to be destroyed or removed, and therefore most likely to ensure that law enforcement are able to identify and trace a particular firearm silencer or firearm muffler,” the agency said in its pending announcement.
ATF noted that current regulations already require serial numbers and other identifying information to be stamped into the frame of all firearms.
But federal regulations don’t require that information to be stamped into the main outside tube of a silencer or muffler. In the past, the ATF has given manufacturers and importers the option of putting that information on the end caps of these items, which can be removed or damaged.
In 2008, the National Firearms Act Trade and Collectors Association petitioned the ATF to ask that it require the markings to be placed on the main outside tube of silencers and mufflers. Eight years after receiving that petition during the tail end of the Bush administration, the ATF is considering the proposal.
ATF seemed to agree with the petitioner that the end cap of a silencer can be damaged through use, which “often requires replacement of the end cap.” It also said end caps are “often removable,” another reason to require markings on the main body of the item.
But the ATF also indicated it is open to other ideas. It asked for public comment over the next 90 days, and asked a series of questions, including what percentage of manufacturers put identifying marks on the end cap, and what other locations might be considered for these marks.
