Supporters say silencers are another tool to protect hearing of gun owners
By Kate Penn
York Daily Record
YORK, Pa. (AP) - Ed Hughes attributes a good chunk of his hearing loss to his hobbies: hunting and competitive shooting.
As a kid, he didn't wear hearing protection. Hughes, 73, now uses a silencer when he's shooting to preserve what little hearing he has left. He'll wear ear muffs if he has to, but they make it harder to be aware of his surroundings and to hear range commands - which are essential for safety when there are other shooters at a range, he said.
The Shrewsbury Township man already owns six silencers, and he has applications in for two more, each for hunting rifles.
It takes months to get approval. Hughes filed his most recent application in May, and he's still waiting on it.
It's a process he knows well. Every time he wanted a new silencer, he had to submit fingerprints and photos for a background check through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with $200. That tax adds to the cost of a silencer, which can range from $400 to more than $1,000.
Some federal legislators want it to be cheaper, and easier, to get a silencer.
Not totally quiet, but better
A federal bill re-introduced to Congress in January would eliminate the $200 transfer tax and allow a consumer to buy a silencer after an instant background check - the same that anyone buying a gun would undergo.
The bill is in front of the subcommittee on crime, terrorism, homeland security and investigations. It has over 100 co-sponsors, a great sign it could pass in this session of Congress, said Casey Contres, communications director for co-sponsor U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
Supporters of the bill say silencers aren't dangerous - they're just another tool to protect the hearing of gun owners and make the shooting experience more enjoyable. But opponents say the gun industry is just trying to make more money, and they're are worried that with increased availability, more silencers would end up in the hands of criminals.
Restricting something out of fear that it might be misused doesn't make sense to Southern Regional Police Chief Jim Boddington because, he said, criminals don't follow the law.
He's not concerned about criminals getting their hands on silencers, in part, because they don't actually make a gunshot silent.
He prefers the term suppressor, which is commonly used in the firearm industry. (The bill, however, identifies the devices as silencers.)
It's not like in the movies. Even with a silencer, a gunshot is loud.
Without a silencer, the average sound of a gun shot ranges anywhere from 150 to 170 decibels. By comparison, a jet engine taking off is 140 decibels, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. A good silencer can cut that sound range down to 115 to 130 decibels. That's much quieter, but still a long way from silent.
Silencers extend the length of a gun, sometimes by 6 to 8 inches. That's a lot of extra metal to stick in your pocket or down your pants, he said.
If criminals wanted to, they'd already be using them, he said.
'A marketing ploy'
If silencers aren't being used in crimes, that just means the current regulation is doing its job, said Shira Goodman. She's the executive director of CeasefirePA, a statewide organization that works to reduce gun violence in Pennsylvania.
"The system we have, especially in Pennsylvania, is working," Goodman said.
Published: Mon, Mar 13, 2017
