This should be passed. Of course, the NFA should be repealed.
Representative Michael Cloud (R-TX) has introduced the SHUSH Act in the House of Representatives, which would deregulate suppressors. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has also introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
Suppressors, whose proper name is silencers, are regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). Thanks to the Hollywood myth that hearing protection devices make firearms whisper quiet, many people assume that these items are “tools of assassins,” and that is why they are heavily regulated. Anti-gun advocates cling to suppressors being used in high-profile murders, such as the killing of the United Healthcare CEO, to justify their place on the NFA. But out of the millions of suppressors in circulation, only a tiny number are used for crime.
Suppressors do not make a gun completely silent. It lowers the sound to a safe level that doesn’t damage a person’s hearing. A gun with a suppressor shooting regular ammunition is still loud. Suppressors are on the NFA because, during the 1930s, poachers used suppressors to harvest their targets. This reason is a far cry from the Hollywood narrative. Now that most states that allow suppressors also allow hunting with them, the original reason for suppressors to be on the NFA is pointless.
By John Crump
