The National Shooting Sports Foundation's April 2026 adjusted NICS data, released Monday, showed NFA background checks reaching 190,086 last month — a 130.3 percent increase over the 82,519 recorded in April 2025 — confirming that the suppressor demand ignited by Congress's elimination of the $200 NFA tax stamp has carried well into spring. AmmoLand reported the figures on Tuesday, May 12.

Overall adjusted firearm sales for April came in at an estimated 1.19 million units, up 1.6 percent year-over-year, according to Shooting News Weekly. The conventional sales baseline holding steady without a panic-buy spike, alongside the dramatic NFA figure, suggests durable demand across both categories — a contrast to the election-cycle surges that defined prior market cycles.

The April numbers extend a streak that started when the tax stamp was eliminated earlier this year. AmmoLand's March report showed NFA checks up 121.2 percent year-over-year that month, putting consecutive months of triple-digit percentage gains on the books. The NSSF began separately tracking Form 1 and Form 4 NFA background checks in its monthly release this year to capture silencer and short-barreled rifle demand that the old headline NICS figure did not isolate.

Dealer-channel data released the same day adds context at the storefront level. The RetailBI Q1 2026 Shooting Sports Retail Trends Report found suppressor unit sales at its 654-dealer tracking panel up 53.1 percent year-over-year through March. Optics tracked similarly: low-power variable scopes were up 32 percent and red dots 18.7 percent. Conventional firearm unit sales dipped 7.6 percent in the quarter, though revenue fell only 2.6 percent as average selling prices rose 5.4 percent — a pattern consistent with consumers trading up to premium products rather than stepping away from the market.

The leading states for April handgun background checks were Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, California, and Virginia. The Firearm Blog noted the data marks continued expansion of the suppressor category as product reaches dealers who were still restocking through Q1.

The May NICS release, expected in mid-June, will be the first full month of spring buying under the new NFA framework. Whether check volumes continue climbing or begin to plateau will give the industry its clearest read yet on where steady-state suppressor demand ultimately settles.