The firearms industry is braced for a state-level fight over access to gun suppressors, which were thrust into the national discussion following last month’s shooting at a municipal building in Virginia.
The massacre, which left 12 dead, has given way to calls for silencers to be outlawed, as police said a handgun used by the shooter was outfitted with the device.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, called a special session of the state legislature, set to take place next month, for lawmakers to consider gun control measures, including a ban on suppressors. And even President Trump said this month he would “seriously look” at a prohibition on the accessories.
“I’d like to think about it,” he told Piers Morgan during an interview with “Good Morning Britain.” “I mean nobody’s talking about silencers very much. I did talk about the bump stock and we had it banned and we’re looking at that. I’m going to seriously look at it. I don’t love the idea of it.”
Despite the president’s comment, gun groups are warning the bigger threat to access to silencers comes from the states, and Virginia in particular, rather than possible action from the president.
“This is an opportunity they see to try and take the heat off of their own backs and talk about guns in an attempt to gain control and maintain their positions,” Knox Williams, executive director of the American Suppressor Association, which represents the suppressor industry, said of Virginia’s top elected officials. “At the state level we’re concerned. At the federal level, we look forward to an open dialogue with the administration.”
Suppressors reduce the sound of gunfire by 30 to 35 decibels, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade group that represents the firearms industry, and are legal to own in 42 states.
The devices are regulated under the National Firearms Act, enacted in 1934, and to possess a silencer, owners are required to pay a $200 fee, undergo a background check, and submit fingerprints and photographs. Suppressor buyers must also submit an application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, approval of which can take months.
Since 2011, the number of silencers registered with the federal government has increased by more than 1 million.
Mark Oliva, public affairs director for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the efforts to outlaw silencers represent the “demonization of a lawful product.”
“They want to assign evil to an object, and the bottom line is evil lies in the heart of the man who committed the murders in Virginia Beach,” he said, of efforts to ban the devices.
Oliva and Williams said most people have a misconception about silencers derived from the movies, as Hollywood depicts the devices as reducing the sound of a gun to a barely audible noise.
“In the movies, you hear that ‘puff’ sound, and that’s just not true,” Oliva said. “When you shoot it, you’re hearing the gun shot, the sonic crack of the bullet.”
And while some elected officials would prefer to ban silencers outright, as eight states have done, others want to make it easier for law-abiding gun owners to use the devices at the gun range or while hunting to protect their hearing and reduce recoil.
Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., this year introduced legislation that would remove silencers from the National Firearms Act, though the devices would still be regulated under a federal gun law passed in 1968. The measure would also make the purchase of suppressors equal to that of a rifle or shotgun. A version of the legislation was also introduced in the Senate.
Despite the support among Republicans for the measure, Oliva said the prospects of it passing both chambers of Congress are “very dim,” particularly since Democrats control the House.
And while even the president suggested he would explore a ban, gun groups believe his comments present an opportunity for education.
“What I would love to see happen is Don Jr. have a discussion, Eric have a discussion with their father about suppressors, because both have used suppressors,” Oliva said, referencing the president’s two oldest sons. “They’re avid firearms users. I would love to see them have a discussion and talk to their father.”
