The SHUSH Act (Silencers Help Us Save Hearing Act) has not passed. Both chambers’ versions were introduced in late January 2025 and remain in committee with no hearings scheduled and no votes taken. H.R. 850, introduced by Representative Michael Cloud of Texas on January 31, 2025, sits with the House Committees on Ways and Means and the Judiciary.1Congress.gov. H.R. 850 – 119th Congress: SHUSH Act The Senate companion, S. 345, introduced by Senator Mike Lee of Utah one day earlier, was referred to the Committee on Finance.2Congress.gov. S. 345 – 119th Congress: SHUSH Act Both bills still carry “Introduced” status.
What Committee Referral Means for the Bill
A bill sitting in committee without a hearing is at the earliest stage of the legislative process. Before either version could become law, it would need a committee vote, a floor vote in its chamber, passage through the other chamber, and the president’s signature. None of that has happened. The referrals themselves are procedural: bills touching tax law go to Ways and Means or Finance, and bills touching firearms statutes go to Judiciary. The SHUSH Act does both, which is why the House version drew two committee referrals.
No committee has calendared it for a hearing as of 2026, and no companion action has been recorded in either chamber beyond the initial referrals.
The Track Record of Suppressor Deregulation Bills
Suppressor deregulation has been introduced repeatedly for roughly a decade. The 118th Congress considered its own version, S. 4825, which also stalled in committee.3Congress.gov. S. 4825 – 118th Congress: SHUSH Act Earlier iterations, including the Hearing Protection Act, were introduced across several sessions without reaching a floor vote in either chamber. After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the Hearing Protection Act was effectively shelved despite having been rolled into a larger sportsmen’s package moving through the House.
Each iteration attracts firearms advocacy support and a meaningful number of co-sponsors, but none has cleared committee. That history is the strongest signal available about the current bill’s prospects: the pattern is one of introduction and stall, not gradual advancement.
What Would Change if It Passed
The current version is broader than some prior proposals. It would remove suppressors from the National Firearms Act’s definition of “firearm” and also exclude them from the Gun Control Act of 1968.1Congress.gov. H.R. 850 – 119th Congress: SHUSH Act Senator Lee’s office described the aim as treating suppressors “just like magazines, scopes, or gun stocks.”4Mike Lee US Senator. Lee Introduces the SHUSH Act to Simplify Suppressor Rules
In practice, that means no $200 tax stamp, no ATF Form 4 application, no fingerprinting or photographs, no federal registry, and no background check at the point of sale. Existing federal records on suppressors would be eliminated. This is different from earlier proposals that would have moved suppressors from the NFA to the GCA, which would have preserved the standard background check through NICS. The SHUSH Act skips that middle ground.
The bill would also eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for federal crimes committed with a suppressor-equipped firearm, and would allow active and retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed suppressor.
State Bans and the Preemption Question
About 42 states currently allow civilian suppressor ownership; eight states and the District of Columbia ban them outright. The SHUSH Act contains a preemption provision that would override state and local laws taxing or regulating suppressors, including outright bans in states such as California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.1Congress.gov. H.R. 850 – 119th Congress: SHUSH Act
Even if the bill passed with that provision intact, court challenges from states with existing bans would be virtually certain. The scope of federal preemption over state firearms laws remains an active area of constitutional debate, so a passed bill would not immediately settle what happens in a banning state.
Watching for Movement
The next procedural step for either bill would be a committee hearing or a markup. Until one of those is scheduled, the status of the SHUSH Act is unchanged from its introduction in January 2025. Anyone tracking it can watch the committee calendars for Ways and Means, House Judiciary, and Senate Finance, or the bill pages on Congress.gov, where any recorded action would appear.