The use of metal additive manufacturing to create firearm silencers (also called suppressors) is the biggest current market opportunity in metal AM and driving significant industry development and dynamics. This opportunity was first identified and outlined in a market report by the research team in 2017.
In 2024, the team published an updated study after the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) introduced major improvements to the background check and approvals system for U.S. civilian purchases of silencers, reducing wait time from 8-10 months down to under 2 weeks. This spurred renewed growth in silencer sales coinciding with several new additively- designed products and military adoption.
In 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced the monetary cost of the $200 NFA Tax Stamp requirement for purchase of any NFA regulated item (including a silencer) in the U.S. to $0. While it did not eliminate any other regulatory requirements for purchase, this cost burden reduction, which went into affect January 1st, 2026, introduced again a massive surge in demand beyond the already high demand from 2025.
This update provides guidance and updated projections and market trends on the most relevant areas for stakeholders evaluating or tracking this market.
Market data, penetration rates, and forecasting are built using proprietary modeling and existing market data, and deepened and contextualized by exhaustive research and direct interviews with a number of industry players.
