WASHINGTON — Republican efforts to loosen regulations on gun silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns have been dealt a big setback with the Senate parliamentarian advising that the proposal would need to clear a 60-vote threshold if included in their big tax and immigration bill.
Gun rights groups had been lobbying aggressively for the measure, which would essentially treat silencers and the short-barreled firearms like long guns. Gun-control groups celebrated the parliamentarian’s ruling, saying the items have been regulated for nearly 100 years for good reason — they are a threat to first responders and communities.
The House version of the GOP’s bill removed silencers — called “suppressors” by the gun industry — from a 1930s law that regulates firearms considered the most dangerous, and in the process, would have eliminated a $200 tax. The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled, or sawed-off, rifles and shotguns.
Under the National Firearms Act, potential buyers of the regulated weapons must also undergo a finger-print based background check. There is no deadline for such checks. The process is arguably more thorough than the name-based background check completed for other firearms purchases.
Lawmakers said the silencers provision was deemed by the Senate parliamentarian to be in violation of the “Byrd Rule,” which stipulates that the budget changes sought in the legislation cannot be “merely incidental” to the policy changes. The special rules are designed to deter provisions unrelate