Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) says he’s made progress working with state lawmakers to strip Montana’s suppressor, short-barreled rifle, and short-barreled shotgun laws of requirements that go beyond new federal rules.
The push follows an October 9, 2026 announcement from ATF Director Robert Cekada that the agency would stop requiring buyers to go through the NFA registration process that has governed suppressor purchases since 1934. The change came after a U.S. District Court judge ruled on August 5, 2026 that the registration process was unconstitutional. The ATF and the Department of Justice then broadened the effect of that ruling beyond the original plaintiffs, exercising what the agency called enforcement discretion “to create greater uniformity.”
As a result, the ATF no longer requires individuals to get agency approval before making or transferring short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, suppressors, or other items defined as “any other weapon” under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(e).
But that federal shift doesn’t automatically change state law. Cekada has said plainly that a number of states still require their own Form 1 or Form 4 paperwork for these purchases, regardless of what the ATF now does. Montana is one of them.
Knudsen announced Monday that he’s working with Republican legislators to close that gap. He shared a press release from the Montana House of Representatives detailing legislation set to be taken up in the coming legislative session that would bring Montana’s rules in line with the ATF’s relaxed federal standard.
“As promised. I’ve been working with MT Leg. Republicans on a bill to REPEAL all Montana state laws requiring ATF Form 4 tax stamps for suppressors, SBRs and SBSs in Montana,” Knudsen wrote on X.
Knudsen credited Senators Wylie Galt and Carl Glimm and Representative Braxton Mitchell for leading the effort.
If passed, the bill would put Montana gun owners on the same footing as residents of most other states, where the federal rollback already applies without an extra layer of state-level tax stamp requirements.
