NRA-ILA ALERT: SUPPRESSOR LAWS
Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:22 pm
Pro-Gun Representatives Introduce Hearing Protection Act to Reform Outdated Suppressor Laws
Thursday, October 22, 2015
On Thursday, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 3799, the Hearing Protection Act (HPA). Joining him were 10 co-sponsors, including Representatives Frank Guinta (R-NH), John Carter (R-TX), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Chris Collins (R-NY), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Mia Love (R-UT), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), and Chris Stewart (R-UT). The HPA would remove sound suppressors from regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA), leaving them to be treated as ordinary firearms subject to the usual NICS check and Form 4473 for dealer sales.
Currently, suppressors (misleadingly referred to as “silencers” in federal law) are subject to the NFA’s cumbersome and lengthy application, “CLEO sign-off,” and $200 taxation provisions. This is so, even though the devices themselves are completely harmless. Their primary function is to reduce the muzzle report of the firearm to which they are attached, protecting the hearing of the firearm’s operator and reducing noise and disturbance to those in nearby vicinities. Unlike their portrayal in popular movies and television shows, the devices do not render firearms all but soundless. They do, however, make them safer and quieter to operate, reducing the sound that reaches the shooter by about the same degree as a pair of earplugs or earmuffs.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
On Thursday, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 3799, the Hearing Protection Act (HPA). Joining him were 10 co-sponsors, including Representatives Frank Guinta (R-NH), John Carter (R-TX), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Chris Collins (R-NY), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Mia Love (R-UT), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), and Chris Stewart (R-UT). The HPA would remove sound suppressors from regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA), leaving them to be treated as ordinary firearms subject to the usual NICS check and Form 4473 for dealer sales.
Currently, suppressors (misleadingly referred to as “silencers” in federal law) are subject to the NFA’s cumbersome and lengthy application, “CLEO sign-off,” and $200 taxation provisions. This is so, even though the devices themselves are completely harmless. Their primary function is to reduce the muzzle report of the firearm to which they are attached, protecting the hearing of the firearm’s operator and reducing noise and disturbance to those in nearby vicinities. Unlike their portrayal in popular movies and television shows, the devices do not render firearms all but soundless. They do, however, make them safer and quieter to operate, reducing the sound that reaches the shooter by about the same degree as a pair of earplugs or earmuffs.