Delegate Karen Keys-Gamarra (D) introduced legislation to create a $500 tax on suppressor sales in the state of Virginia.
The bill, HB 207, “Imposes a firearm suppressor tax equal to $500 per retail sale of any firearm suppressor by a dealer in firearms.”
Keys-Gamarra’s bill directs monies from the tax to “be deposited in the general fund.”
A long-standing $200 federal tax on suppressors was wiped out by President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill which took effect January 1, 2026. This means suppressor sales around the nation are now hundred of dollars lower than they were even one month ago. But HB 207 will force Virginians to ante up $500, on top of the price of the suppressor, every time they make such a purchase.
Moreover, because numerous suppressors are in the $400-500 price range, the Key-Gamarra legislation means the price Virginians must pay for said devices will literally double.
Virginia Democrats are also pushing a ban on AR-15s and other rifles which they describe as “assault weapons.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.