Commerce Department Streamlines Export Controls for Sound Suppressors

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced last week that, effective November 20, 2026, the export of certain silencers, mufflers, and sound suppressors will fall under BIS’s Export Administration Regulations, rather than the State Department’s U.S. Munitions List.

This change is a deregulatory action designed to align export controls on suppressors with those already applied to firearms. Suppressors will be added to the Commerce Control List (CCL), requiring a BIS license for certain exports, reexports, or in-country transfers, including related software and technology releases to foreign persons. License exceptions currently available for firearms will also extend to suppressors.

Jeffrey I. Kessler, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, said, "This deregulatory action on suppressors is a common-sense move that alleviates the compliance burden on America’s proud firearms industry, while continuing to protect national security."