Dozens of Second Amendment groups are urging Congress to make firearm suppressors more accessible for law-abiding Americans, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The gun rights groups — which include the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the American Suppressor Association (ASA) — called on congressional leadership Wednesday to add Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) in the upcoming reconciliation bill. The HPA’s — introduced by Virginia Rep. Ben Cline in January — would eliminate a national suppressor registry and a $200 tax by removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 under the section.
Suppressors are beneficial to gun owners and should be accessible as a Constitutional right, the letter says. (RELATED: Federal Judge Gives On Camera Firearms Demo To Show Colleagues In Major Second Amendment Case Are Living In ‘Fantasy’)
“Americans should not be taxed for a safety device that helps prevent irreversible damage to one of their senses while exercising their Constitutional rights,” the groups wrote in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
“Suppressors are designed to protect hearing, reduce noise pollution, and help us all be good stewards of the environment. Scare tactics, misinformation, and preservation of the status quo must not be impediments to restoring common sense to our nation’s approach to the Second Amendment.”
A suppressed weapon. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)
The Republican-led reconciliation bill has already taken heat, with the GOA characterizing it as a failure, Florida Daily reported.
Any firearm registry is alarming and should be vehemently opposed, ASA President and Executive Director Knox Williams, told the DCNF.
“Historically, registries have been a precursor to confiscation. There should not be any firearm registries, much less one for suppressors,” Williams said.
Purchasing a suppressor involves a lengthy process that includes finding a licensed dealer, completing a background check, registering the suppressor with a national registry and paying a tax. This legislation would not affect the licensing requirement or the background check, according to the letter.
Suppressors began being taxed with the passage of the NFA in 1934.
Opponents of the measure claim that suppressors make shootings more likely because people will not be able to identify the source of the bullets.
“Silencers put law enforcement and the public at grave risk by making it more difficult to identify nearby gunshots and locate an active shooter, and they should not be widely available to civilians,” the anti-gun group Gifford says on its website.
But Williams says that could not be further from the truth.
“You still need to wear hearing protection when using a suppressor because they are not quiet. Anyone who tells you that a silencer is a threat to public safety has never fired a suppressed weapon or been around one,” he told the DCNF.
The offices for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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