Republican Senators Introduce Bill Deregulating Suppressors

In a lot of countries, owning guns isn’t exactly easy. However, they do make it pretty easy for those who do own them to also have suppressors for them. They’re viewed as safety devices, ways to not just reduce potential damage to the shooter’s hearing, but also to keep from disturbing those who live near the gun range.

And considering how many stories we come across of locals being upset about a range existing simply because of the noise, it’s a shame that suppressors are so hard to get lawfully here in the United States.

It seems a couple of Republicans in the Senate have introduced a bill to do just that.

Two Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to remove certain regulations surrounding firearm suppressors. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are the chief co-sponsors of the Silencers Help Us Save Hearing (SHUSH) Act.

A firearm suppressor, or “silencer,” is a device attached to the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the noise, muzzle flash and recoil generated when the gun is fired. However, a suppressor doesn’t completely mute the sound of a gun firing. Rather, it lowers it by an average of 20 to 35 decibels –– a reduction similar to wearing ear protection.

The congressmen say that under current law, acquiring a silencer is a lengthy process through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Applicants must fill out and submit several documents and provide certification from a local law enforcement officer. They also need to submit two copies of fingerprints, provide two passport photos and pay $200 in federal taxes.

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The SHUSH Act would remove suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA) and Gun Control Act (GCA). It would reclassify them as a standard firearm accessory.

Eight years ago, the SAFE Act was proposed in Congress that would take suppressors off the NFA list, but would still require a background check just like buying a gun. It wasn’t ideal, but it would make it reasonable for more people to get one.

This goes a step further and just treats them like a new stock for your bolt-action or a flashlight mount for your AR-15.

And I’m here for it.

Let’s be real here, by itself, a suppressor is useless. It’s a metal tube with some baffles in it that won’t actually accomplish anything other than making a potentially handy but expensive blunt object. For a suppressor to work as intended, someone needs a gun. If gun control laws on the books work as intended–they don’t, but roll with me here–then easy accessibility of suppressors shouldn’t make a bit of difference.

Since gun control doesn’t work, though, let’s also remember that Luigi Magione reportedly used a 3D-printed suppressor when he killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

If you can’t keep suppressors out of the hands of assassins who can just download the plans to build one, why are law-abiding citizens being denied what is really a safety device?

The SHUSH Act goes where things should have already been. 

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it’ll get anywhere in the Senate. There’s still the filibuster Democrats can use and, frankly, too many Republicans are far too squishy on things like this for anyone’s comfort.

Still, here’s hoping I’m wrong on this one.