§ INDEPENDENT REFERENCE US Gun Policy

Not a U.S. government website. Not legal advice. Text reviewed October 14, 2026.

Federal firearm law

Congress’s principal firearm statutes are the National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act. The Brady Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act amended that framework. This page describes those statutes. It does not describe every regulation, form, or offense.

Reviewed October 14, 2026, against the United States Code as maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, which stated that the online Code was current through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026).1

Where the statutes sit

The Gun Control Act is codified in chapter 44 of title 18.2 The National Firearms Act is codified in chapter 53 of title 26, the Internal Revenue Code.3 Section 927 of title 18 says that no provision of chapter 44 shall be construed as indicating an intent to occupy the field and exclude state law on the same subject, unless there is a direct and positive conflict so that the two cannot be reconciled or consistently stand together.4

National Firearms Act

The National Firearms Act was enacted on June 26, 1934.3 In that Act, and in the current Code, “firearm” is a defined term. It is narrower than the ordinary word. Section 5845(a) defines it as:

The same subsection says the term does not include an antique firearm, or any device other than a machinegun or destructive device that the Secretary finds, by reason of the date of its manufacture, value, design, and other characteristics, is primarily a collector’s item and is not likely to be used as a weapon.5

Chapter 53 also imposes a special occupational tax on importers, manufacturers, and dealers in these firearms: $1,000 a year for importers and manufacturers, and $500 a year for dealers, with a reduced rate of $500 for certain small importers and manufacturers whose gross receipts are less than $500,000.6 The Secretary is directed to maintain a central registry, the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, of firearms in the United States that are not in the possession or under the control of the United States.7

Making and transfer taxes after 2025

Public Law 119-21, section 70436, amended the transfer tax and the making tax. Section 5811(a) now levies a transfer tax of $200 for each machinegun or destructive device transferred, and $0 for any other firearm transferred. Section 5821(a) uses the same split for the making tax. A Code note states that the 2025 amendment applies to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025.8 Before that amendment, section 5811 imposed $200 on each firearm transferred, except $5 for a firearm classified as any other weapon.8

The registration, application, and possession provisions remain in the statute. Section 5841 still requires the registry. Whether a particular provision is being enforced is a separate question, addressed below. The statute has not been repealed.

Machineguns under title 18

A separate statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(o), makes it unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun, with stated exceptions. One exception is any lawful transfer or lawful possession of a machinegun that was lawfully possessed before the date the subsection takes effect. Another covers transfer or possession under the authority of the United States or a state, or a department, agency, or political subdivision.9 Section 922(o) was added by the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act. Section 110(a) of that Act says the amendments made by the Act become effective 180 days after the date of enactment. The Act was enacted on May 19, 1986.10

Enforcement guidance as of October 9, 2026

On August 5, 2026, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that specified making, registration, and transfer provisions of the National Firearms Act could no longer be sustained under the taxing power as applied to short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, silencers, and “any other weapons,” because the making and transfer taxes on those items had been reduced to zero. The court permanently enjoined enforcement of the challenged provisions against the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. The opinion states that the remedy does not extend to persons who were not before the court.11

On October 9, 2026, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives published guidance stating that, as a matter of enforcement discretion, it will not enforce the requirements to obtain approval before making or transferring those four categories, and will not enforce the Act’s registration, tax-stamp, or related requirements for them. ATF states that the $200 tax remains for machineguns and destructive devices and that the Act’s requirements apply in full to those weapons. ATF also states that the guidance does not supersede state and local laws, that it will still accept voluntary registration, and that another court could reach a different conclusion about the statute.12

That guidance is an agency enforcement statement. It is not a repeal. Section 922(b)(2) still makes it unlawful for a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector to sell or deliver any firearm to any person in a state where the purchase or possession would violate state law or a published ordinance applicable at the place of sale, delivery, or other disposition, unless the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the purchase or possession would not violate that law or ordinance.13

Gun Control Act

The Gun Control Act of 1968 was enacted on October 22, 1968.2 Section 922(a)(1) makes it unlawful for any person except a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or in the course of such business to ship, transport, or receive any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce.14

For a dealer in firearms as defined in section 921(a)(11)(A), “engaged in the business” means a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to predominantly earn a profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms. The term does not include a person who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of a personal collection of firearms.15 “To predominantly earn a profit” means that the intent underlying the sale or disposition of firearms is predominantly one of obtaining pecuniary gain, as opposed to other intents, such as improving or liquidating a personal firearms collection. The same paragraph provides that proof of profit shall not be required as to a person who engages in the regular and repetitive purchase and disposition of firearms for criminal purposes or terrorism, a term the paragraph defines.15 The “predominantly earn a profit” formulation for dealers was adopted by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, described below.

Who the statute disqualifies

Section 922(g) makes it unlawful for specified categories of persons to ship or transport, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm or ammunition, or to possess, in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition, or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. The categories in subsection (g) are a person who:

Section 922(d) makes it unlawful to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the person falls into parallel categories.17 The definitions of “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” and “dating relationship,” including the rules added in 2022, are in the next section.

Brady Act and the background-check system

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was enacted on November 30, 1993. Its enacting clause describes the Act as providing for a waiting period before the purchase of a handgun, and for the establishment of a national instant criminal background check system to be contacted by firearms dealers before the transfer of any firearm.18

The permanent dealer duty is in 18 U.S.C. § 922(t). A licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer shall not transfer a firearm to any other person who is not licensed under chapter 44 unless, before the transfer is completed, the licensee contacts the national instant criminal background check system established under section 103 of the Brady Act. The transfer may proceed when the system provides a unique identification number, or, subject to the under-21 rule below, when three business days have elapsed since the contact and the system has not notified the licensee that receipt would violate subsection (g) or (n), or state, local, or tribal law. The licensee must also verify the transferee’s identity by examining a valid identification document containing a photograph.19

The duty in section 922(t) is imposed on licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers. The subsection does not, by its own terms, require an unlicensed person to contact the system. Paragraph (t)(3) lists transfers to which paragraph (t)(1) does not apply, including certain state permits issued no more than five years earlier after a verification that available information does not indicate that possession would violate law.19 The system established under section 103 of the Brady Act is codified at 34 U.S.C. § 40901.20

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

Public Law 117-159 was enacted on June 25, 2022. Section 3 states that the Act may be cited as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Division A, Title II is titled “Firearms.” The Act also contains mental-health provisions and a supplemental appropriations division. This page covers the firearm amendments in Title II, not the rest of the Act.21

Checks for buyers under 21

Section 12001 amended section 922(t). For a person less than 21 years of age, the transfer conditions include a unique identification number, or the passage of three business days without notice that cause exists to investigate a possibly disqualifying juvenile record, or, if that notice is given, the passage of ten business days without notice that the transfer would violate subsection (d) or that receipt would violate subsection (g) or (n) or state, local, or tribal law.19 A statutory note to section 922 states that, effective September 30, 2032, the amendments made by section 12001(a)(3) of Public Law 117-159 are repealed and the amended provisions are restored as if those paragraphs had not been enacted.22

Who must be licensed as a dealer

Section 12002 revised the dealer branch of “engaged in the business,” quoted above: a person who deals in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to predominantly earn a profit through repetitive purchase and resale.15 21

Grant funds and crisis-intervention programs

Section 12003 is titled “Use of Byrne grants for implementation of State crisis intervention programs.” It amends the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant statute so that funds may be used for state crisis intervention court proceedings and related programs or initiatives, including mental health courts, drug courts, veterans courts, and extreme risk protection order programs. The text requires those extreme-risk programs, at a minimum, to include specified pre-deprivation and post-deprivation due process protections. The section authorizes a use of federal grant funds. It does not itself create a possession-restricting order in any state.23

Straw purchasing and trafficking

Section 12004, the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, added 18 U.S.C. §§ 932 and 933. Section 932 makes it unlawful to knowingly purchase, or conspire to purchase, any firearm in or otherwise affecting interstate or foreign commerce for, on behalf of, or at the request or demand of any other person, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the other person meets a criterion in section 922(d), intends to use, carry, possess, sell, or otherwise dispose of the firearm in furtherance of a felony, a federal crime of terrorism, or a drug trafficking crime, or intends to sell or otherwise dispose of the firearm to such a person.24 Section 933 makes it unlawful to ship, transport, transfer, cause to be transported, or otherwise dispose of any firearm to another person in or otherwise affecting interstate or foreign commerce, if the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the use, carrying, or possession of a firearm by the recipient would constitute a felony as defined in section 932(a). The section also covers receiving a firearm when the recipient knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the receipt would constitute a felony, and an attempt or conspiracy to commit either offense.24

Misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence

Section 921(a) defines “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” to include an offense that is a misdemeanor under federal, state, tribal, or local law and has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a person in one of several listed relationships. Those relationships include a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim.25

“Dating relationship” means a relationship between individuals who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. Whether a relationship qualifies is determined by the length of the relationship, its nature, and the frequency and type of interaction. A casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context does not constitute a dating relationship.25

For a person with not more than one conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against an individual in a dating relationship, who is not otherwise prohibited, the statute says the person shall not be disqualified under chapter 44 if five years have elapsed from the later of the judgment of conviction or the completion of the person’s custodial or supervisory sentence, if any, and the person has not subsequently been convicted of another such offense, a misdemeanor that has as an element the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, or any other offense that would disqualify the person under section 922(g). The statute says restoration under that subparagraph is not available for the other listed relationships, including a current or former spouse.25

What this page leaves out

Sentences, fines, forms, and agency rulings other than the October 9, 2026 ATF guidance are not summarized here. State statutes are a separate body of law. The state-law page describes categories and links to official state sources. It does not say which rule a given state has adopted.

Notes

  1. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, “Search & Browse,” stating that the United States Code Online is current through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026), uscode.house.gov/browse.html, consulted October 14, 2026. ↩
  2. Gun Control Act of 1968, Pub. L. No. 90-618, 82 Stat. 1213 (Oct. 22, 1968), 82 Stat. 1213 (govinfo). ↩
  3. National Firearms Act, ch. 757, 48 Stat. 1236 (June 26, 1934), 48 Stat. 1236 (govinfo). The chapter was later revised; the current text is 26 U.S.C. ch. 53. ↩
  4. 18 U.S.C. § 927. Reading copy checked October 14, 2026: Legal Information Institute. The official Code is the Office of the Law Revision Counsel edition cited in note 1. On the review date, that site’s section-level pages were unavailable in its temporary format. ↩
  5. 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  6. 26 U.S.C. § 5801(a), (b). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  7. 26 U.S.C. § 5841(a). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  8. 26 U.S.C. §§ 5811(a), 5821(a), as amended by Pub. L. No. 119-21, § 70436, 139 Stat. 72, 247 (July 4, 2025). The prior text of § 5811(a), and the effective-date note pointing to § 70436(d), appear in the section’s statutory notes. Reading copies: § 5811 and § 5821. Public law: Pub. L. No. 119-21 (govinfo). ↩
  9. 18 U.S.C. § 922(o). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  10. Firearms Owners’ Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 99-308, § 110(a), 100 Stat. 449, 460 (May 19, 1986), 100 Stat. 449 (govinfo). ↩
  11. Silencer Shop Foundation v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, No. 6:25-cv-056-H (N.D. Tex. Aug. 5, 2026), opinion (govinfo). ↩
  12. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “Update to NFA Transfer Guidance,” describing the open letter effective October 9, 2026, atf.gov/firearms/update-to-nfa-transfer-guidance. ↩
  13. 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(2). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  14. 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  15. 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(21)(C), (a)(22). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  16. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)–(9). The commerce wording in the text is the closing clause of subsection (g). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  17. 18 U.S.C. § 922(d). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  18. Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Pub. L. No. 103-159, 107 Stat. 1536 (Nov. 30, 1993), 107 Stat. 1536 (govinfo). ↩
  19. 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(1), (t)(3). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  20. The cross-reference appears in 18 U.S.C. § 921, which identifies the system established under section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act as 34 U.S.C. § 40901. Reading copy of § 921: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  21. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Pub. L. No. 117-159, § 3, 136 Stat. 1313 (June 25, 2022), Pub. L. No. 117-159 (govinfo). ↩
  22. Statutory note to 18 U.S.C. § 922, “Effective and Termination Dates of 2022 Amendment,” quoting Pub. L. No. 117-159, div. A, title II, § 12001(a)(3), 136 Stat. 1324. Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. ↩
  23. Pub. L. No. 117-159, § 12003, 136 Stat. 1313, amending 34 U.S.C. § 10152. Public law (govinfo). ↩
  24. 18 U.S.C. §§ 932, 933, added by Pub. L. No. 117-159, § 12004. Reading copies: § 932 and § 933. ↩
  25. 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33), (a)(37). Reading copy: Legal Information Institute. The dating-relationship amendment and the five-year provision for a single qualifying conviction are in the text of § 921 as amended by Pub. L. No. 117-159, § 12005. ↩