Amnesties and Buybacks Timeline

Amnesties, registration windows and buybacks have come and gone for nearly a century.

Here are the dates that shaped what owners can do today.

Is an amnesty open now? As of November 2026, no federal NFA amnesty is open.

State windows change, so check your state police or attorney general.

Gun company history wall at a gun store

The Timeline

  1. 1934National Firearms Act

    Congress taxes and registers machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors and “any other weapons,” with a $200 tax that stayed the same for more than 90 years.

  2. 1968First NFA amnesty

    The Gun Control Act of 1968 amends the NFA and opens a 30-day amnesty that ends December 1, 1968, letting owners register NFA firearms without penalty. Section 207(d) allows future amnesty periods of up to 90 days each. None has been declared since.

  3. 1974Baltimore buyback

    Baltimore’s Operation PASS, widely cited as the first large buyback in the United States, pays $50 per gun and collects about 13,400 firearms, including about 8,400 handguns.

  4. 1986Machine gun registry closed

    The Firearm Owners Protection Act bars civilian transfer and possession of machine guns not lawfully possessed before May 19, 1986, freezing the number of transferable machine guns.

  5. 1992Seattle buyback

    Seattle’s buyback collects 1,172 firearms. A later study finds no statistically significant effect on gun crime or gun deaths.

  6. 1996 to 1997Australia national buyback

    After new national laws, Australia’s buyback runs from October 1996 through September 1997 and collects about 650,000 guns.

  7. 1997United Kingdom handgun ban

    The Firearms (Amendment) Acts of 1997 prohibit most handguns, with compensation paid to owners.

  8. January 1, 2014Connecticut registration deadline

    Owners of newly restricted rifles and magazines must apply for certificates or declare them. About 25,000 rifles are registered by the deadline, according to the governor at the time.

  9. April 15, 2014New York SAFE Act registration deadline

    Owners of rifles newly defined as assault weapons must register them with the state.

  10. June 30, 2018California bullet-button registration deadline

    Owners of rifles with bullet-button magazine releases must register them. A court order reopens registration from January 13 to April 12, 2022.

  11. 2019 to 2020New Zealand buyback

    After new restrictions, New Zealand Police collect about 47,000 firearms in a government-funded buyback.

  12. January 1, 2024Illinois registration deadline

    Owners of rifles and other items restricted by the Protect Illinois Communities Act must file an endorsement affidavit with the Illinois State Police.

  13. January 1, 2026$0 NFA tax

    The federal NFA tax drops to $0 for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs and AOWs. Machine guns and destructive devices stay at $200.

  14. August 5, 2026Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF

    A federal court in Texas holds that NFA registration and transfer rules for the $0 items can no longer rest on the taxing power.

  15. October 9, 2026ATF stops enforcing registration

    ATF announces nationwide nonenforcement of approval and registration for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs and AOWs. See NFA Items and Trusts.

Museum display of historic firearms from the Colfax County War
Historic firearms have outlasted every law on this list.

Amnesties and Buybacks Are Not the Same

  • An amnesty lets owners register or declare something without penalty during a set window. The owner keeps the gun.
  • A registration deadline is the last day to register a newly restricted gun and keep it legally.
  • A buyback pays owners, usually with cash or a gift card, to give up guns, which are then destroyed. Most are voluntary local events.

For lawful options outside of any program, start with Know Your Options.

Watch: How the NFA Started

The Heller Decision (2008) and the National Firearms Act (1934)

Sources