SBR/SBS State Statutes After ATF’s Oct. 9 NFA Guidance

By Jay Langston · Updated October 21, 2026

Bottom line

SBR laws by state now decide whether you can own a short-barreled rifle or shotgun without ATF paperwork. Of the 27 states where suppressors transfer on a 4473 alone, 13 have no state law that touches an SBR or SBS (Kansas, Tennessee and Texas repealed theirs between 2022 and 2026). The other 14 tie legality to federal law in some way, and the exact wording of each statute decides whether an unregistered short-barreled gun is a state crime.

Since October 9, 2026, ATF will not enforce the NFA’s Form 1/Form 4 approval, registration or marking rules for SBRs, SBSs, suppressors or AOWs against anyone, and it is not enforcing the GCA’s § 922(b)(4) dealer-approval rule for SBRs/SBSs until it writes a replacement process (ATF). ATF says it cannot say whether an item held unregistered under that discretion counts as lawfully held or registered for state-law purposes.

One distinction runs through every state below. People covered by the Silencer Shop Foundation injunction hold a court ruling that the provisions are unconstitutional as applied to them. Everyone else relies only on ATF choosing not to enforce a statute that is still on the books. A state statute keyed to “in violation of federal law” reads very differently in those two situations.

This is a research summary, not legal advice. Statute text below is quoted from official state sites or, where noted, a 2021–2022 compilation; confirm the current version before acting.

What’s changed since October 9

No federal change: ATF’s October 9 non-enforcement policy stands, and the movement since then is at the state level and in court filings. As of October 21, 2026:

Date	Who	What happened
Oct. 16	Alaska acting AG Cori Mills	Called state law “in flux”; asked police to consult prosecutors before charging under the prohibited-weapons statute; SB 243 is prefiled to fix it
Oct. 15	Maryland State Police	Advisory: SBRs/SBSs still need an approved Form 1 or Form 4 before the 4473 and Maryland 77R
Oct. 13	Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch	Said suppressor registration is voluntary under state law while ATF’s guidance stands; will seek 2027 law changes
Oct. 12	DOJ, Silencer Shop Foundation case	Told the court nationwide non-enforcement makes clarifying the injunction’s reach in the plaintiff states unnecessary, while still opposing a broader reading
Oct. 11	Florida State Attorney Brian Kramer (8th Circuit)	Memo to police: Fla. Stat. 790.221(3) is satisfied, so unregistered SBRs, SBSs and suppressors are not grounds for arrest; binds only his six counties (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, Union)
Oct. 7	DOJ, Brown v. ATF / Missouri v. ATF (E.D. Mo.)	Opposed statewide or nationwide relief; status conference set for October 22

Outside the 27, Montana AG Austin Knudsen says state law still needs changing in the 2027 session; his earlier guidance says an unregistered silencer remains a Montana felony (Montana DOJ). Silencer Shop’s state lists were unchanged on October 21; Mississippi is still shown as requiring the Form 4 process.

One pending federal change: an ATF proposed rule would let individuals take an SBR or SBS across state lines for trips of 365 days or less without a Form 20. Comments closed August 6, 2026; it is not final, so the Form 20 is still required.

How to read the statutes

State SBR/SBS laws in these 27 states fall into five kinds of wording, from least to most risk for an unregistered gun.

Risk	Wording type	What it turns on	States
Lowest	No state SBR/SBS prohibition	Federal law only	ID, IN, KS, KY, ME, NH, NM, TN, TX, UT, VT, WV, WY; SBRs only in MN, SD
Moderate	“In violation of federal law”	Whether un-enforced conduct is still a federal “violation”	AL, IA, MO
Moderate	“Lawfully owned/possessed under,” “in compliance with,” or “qualified under” federal law	Whether non-enforcement makes possession “lawful” or “compliant”	AZ, FL, NE, OK, VA
Higher	NFA compliance frozen at a past date	Arkansas ties its exception to the NFA “as … existed on January 1, 2019,” when registration was required	AR
Highest	Explicit federal registration, ATF authorization, or a state ban	Registration itself, which no longer happens unless you file voluntarily	LA, MD, SC, SD (SBS); MN bans SBS outright

For the moderate rows, a covered party has the better argument: a court has held the federal provisions unconstitutional as applied to them, so there is arguably no “violation” and their possession is arguably “lawful.” A non-covered buyer relying only on ATF’s discretion is technically still acting contrary to a statute that has not been repealed.

State by state

The five highest-risk states for an unregistered short-barreled gun are Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota (SBS) and Minnesota (SBS, banned outright). Tennessee has no state SBR/SBS restriction at all.

State	Statute	Key language (quoted or closely paraphrased)	Read for an unregistered SBR/SBS
Alabama	Ala. Code § 13A-11-63	Possessing an SBR or SBS “in violation of federal law” is a Class C felony	Moderate: turns on whether un-enforced conduct is a “violation”
Arizona	A.R.S. § 13-3101(A)(8), (B)	SBRs/SBSs are “prohibited weapons,” but the list excludes items “possessed, manufactured or transferred in compliance with federal law”	Moderate
Arkansas	Ark. Code § 5-73-104 (2020 text)	Bans bombs, metal knuckles and “other implement” with “no lawful purpose”; does not name SBRs; exempts items in compliance with the NFA “as … existed on January 1, 2019”	Higher if a prosecutor treats an SBR as an “other implement”; the 2019 freeze points to the registration-era NFA
Florida	Fla. Stat. § 790.221	SBR/SBS possession is a 2nd-degree felony; firearms “lawfully owned and possessed under provisions of federal law are excepted”	Moderate; one state attorney (8th Circuit, six counties) says the exception is met and unregistered items are not grounds for arrest
Idaho	None found	2022 compilation lists no SBR/SBS provision	Lowest
Indiana	None found	2022 compilation lists only a machine-gun ban	Lowest
Iowa	Iowa Code § 724.1C (2021 text)	No knowing possession of an SBR or SBS “in violation of federal law”; Class D felony	Moderate
Kansas	K.S.A. 21-6301, amended by HB 2501	Signed April 9, 2026, effective July 1, 2026; removed suppressors and short-barreled shotguns from criminal use of weapons (SBRs were never listed)	Lowest
Kentucky	None found	2022 compilation lists no SBR/SBS provision	Lowest
Louisiana	La. R.S. 40:1785, 40:1781(3)	No one may possess a “firearm” (defined to include SBRs, SBSs and silencers) that “has not been registered or transferred in accordance with Title 18 or Title 26 … as applicable”	Highest: registration language; “as applicable” is the only argument
Maine	None found	2022 compilation lists only a machine-gun ban	Lowest
Maryland	Md. Pub. Safety § 5-203 (2021 text)	No SBR/SBS unless it “has been registered with the federal government in accordance with federal law”; the defendant must prove registration; up to 5 years	Highest; Maryland State Police (Oct. 15) say SBRs/SBSs still need an approved Form 1 or 4
Minnesota	Minn. Stat. § 609.67 (2021 text)	SBS banned except police, BCA-designated collector’s items and similar; no SBR provision	SBR lowest; SBS banned regardless
Missouri	RSMo 571.020.1(6)(b) (2021 text)	Offense to possess “any of the following in violation of federal law,” including an SBR or SBS; Class D felony	Moderate; 2026 bills touched suppressors, not SBRs
Nebraska	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-1203 (2021 text)	Short rifle/shotgun possession is a Class IV felony, except “persons qualified under the provisions of federal law” for those guns	Moderate
New Hampshire	None found	2022 compilation lists no SBR/SBS provision	Lowest
New Mexico	None found	2022 compilation lists no SBR/SBS provision	Lowest
Oklahoma	21 O.S. § 1289.18	Sawed-off possession is a felony unless “lawfully possessed under federal law” or not an NFA “firearm”; an approved NFA form is a defense	Moderate; HB 3301 (2026) would rewrite it, final status not confirmed
South Carolina	S.C. Code §§ 16-23-230, -250; 23-31-330	Possession unlawful except for persons “authorized to possess these weapons by the … Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms”; separate SLED registration card, sheriff-approved, expires each December 31; felony up to 10 years	Highest: non-enforcement is not “authorization”
South Dakota	SDCL 22-14-6; 22-1-2(8)	“Controlled weapon” now covers machine guns and short shotguns (silencers removed February 2026; SBRs not listed); exception for a person who “has registered such weapon with the proper state or federal authority”	SBR lowest; SBS highest
Tennessee	Tenn. Code § 39-17-1302	SBRs/SBSs removed from prohibited weapons in 2022; the NFA-compliance exception now covers only machine guns	Lowest
Texas	Penal Code § 46.05, amended by SB 1596	“Short-barrel firearm” deleted from prohibited weapons, effective September 1, 2025	Lowest
Utah	Utah Code 76-11-203	No possession ban; crime only to conceal an “unlawfully possessed” SBR/SBS; under-18 ban “except as provided by federal law”	Lowest, with that concealment caveat
Vermont	None found	Secondary sources only	Lowest; verify
Virginia	Va. Code § 18.2-303.1	Class 4 felony otherwise; the article does not reach a sawed-off rifle or shotgun “possessed in compliance with federal law”	Moderate
West Virginia	None found	Secondary sources only	Lowest; verify
Wyoming	None found	Secondary sources only	Lowest; verify

Rows marked “2021 text” or “2020 text” come from a state-statute appendix filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022; I found no later amendment but did not open the current official page.

Private sales and transfers

Federally, a private in-state sale of a suppressor, SBR, SBS or AOW between two unlicensed people now works like any other private gun sale: no Form 4, no ATF approval. ATF says unlicensed individuals no longer need approval to make or transfer these items and may file forms voluntarily (ATF FAQ).

What changed federally

No Form 4 for a private transfer, and no Form 1 to build an SBR, SBS, suppressor or AOW.
Suppressors and AOWs can cross state lines unregistered: ATF will not enforce the NFA ban on interstate transport of unregistered items.
FFLs transfer suppressors and AOWs on a 4473 and NICS check, and Form 3s between dealers are optional.
FFLs can also transfer SBRs and SBSs without ATF approval for now; ATF will not enforce § 922(b)(4) until it writes a non-NFA approval process.

What did not change

A private sale to a resident of another state is still illegal; it must go through an FFL in the buyer’s state.
Selling to a prohibited person, or to someone you have reasonable cause to believe is prohibited, is still a federal crime.
Repeated sales for profit can still mean “engaging in the business” without a license, and NFA dealers still owe the special occupational tax.
Taking an SBR or SBS across state lines still requires an approved Form 20 (ATF Form 5320.20), registered or not.
Machine guns and destructive devices keep the full NFA process and the $200 tax.

State overlays on a private sale

The item itself: a private buyer in a Group 2 state (AK, CO, CT, GA, MI, MS, MT, NV, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, WA, WI), or an SBR/SBS buyer in LA, MD, SC or SD, needs the item registered to be safe under state law. That now means a voluntary Form 4.
Background-check rules: several Group 1 states have their own private-sale background-check requirements (Virginia, New Mexico and Vermont for most firearms; Maryland, Maine and Minnesota for some). These were not re-verified for this article, and whether a suppressor counts as a “firearm” under each state’s rule needs checking.

Already-registered items

A registered item can now change hands on a bill of sale, but the buyer’s possession is then unregistered.
An owner can ask ATF to remove an item from the registry by writing NFAFAX@atf.gov. ATF warns that a removed item cannot be re-registered unless the Attorney General declares an amnesty.
Lending an SBR or suppressor for someone else’s independent use is a transfer under the NFA definitions; the safer course is to stay with the gun.

A practical routine for a private sale: confirm in-state residency with a driver’s license, ask for a carry permit as a prohibited-person check, write a bill of sale with the serial number, and decide together whether to file a voluntary $0 Form 4.

Risks and what to watch

The biggest risk is a policy reversal: ATF says enforcement could resume if Congress adds a tax, the injunction is overturned, or DOJ rescinds the guidance, and unregistered items get no automatic grandfathering (ATF FAQ).

Voluntary registration: ATF still keeps the registry and processes Form 1s and 4s at $0. A registered item is safe under every state statute above and under a future reversal.
Covered vs. non-covered: members and customers of the Silencer Shop Foundation plaintiffs (GOA, GOF, FRAC and others; Silencer Shop, SilencerCo, PSA, B&T) hold a court ruling, not just agency discretion. That matters most in the “violation of” and “lawfully possessed” states.
Pending state bills: Oklahoma HB 3301 (rewrite of § 1289.18, would take effect November 1, 2026 if enacted) and Missouri HB 1730 (suppressors) were moving in 2026; I could not confirm final passage of either.
State attorney general opinions: still none in the 27 states on whether ATF non-enforcement satisfies “lawful under federal law” wording; Florida’s is one regional prosecutor’s memo, and Mississippi and Alaska (outside the 27) have taken opposite approaches.
ATF’s coming SBR/SBS approval form: once ATF writes its § 922(b)(4) replacement, FFL transfers of SBRs and SBSs will need that new approval.

Sources

Federal

ATF – Update to NFA Transfer Guidance and FAQ (Oct. 9, 2026)
ATF Open Letter, effective Oct. 9, 2026
ATF press release, Oct. 9, 2026
ATF NPRM, Interstate Transport of NFA Firearms (2026-09161)
Silencer Shop – Where Are Silencers Legal?

State statutes

News & state guidance

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