One user, who joined the group in June, said in a post that he wished he had known about the do-it-yourself option before he filed paperwork to buy from a licensed retailer. In the past month, the group has grown by more than 1, users. Federal law regulates online firearms sales just as it does sales from brick-and-mortar shops: retailers must conduct background checks for every purchase and ship weapons to federally licensed dealers for pickup. Solvent trap retailers and others like them can sidestep these restrictions since their products are not technically firearms.
The parts necessary for building a suppressor from home can thus be bought on Amazon or niche sellers like Quiet Bore, without regulation. Though not household names, some of the specialized sellers have attracted dedicated followings, as online comments attest. According to interviews with former federal agents, gun retailers, and lawyers, two problems underpin this expanding gray market: First, long wait times incentivize quick workarounds like solvent traps that can easily be converted to silencers.
Second, the ATF has issued technical opinions that make those workarounds extremely challenging to prosecute. Such challenges compound work the agency already considers low-priority. Dogged by a lack of funding and inadequate technology, the former associate deputy director of the ATF, Ronald Turk, wrote in a leaked white paper that the agency should consider removing silencers from the list of items regulated under the National Firearms Act to ease the burden on ATF staff.
He noted that there had been numerous complaints to Congress about processing times for suppressor applications, which make up the vast majority of registrations under the act.
The technical rulings do not take into account how effectively the items suppress sound. He said they have allowed companies to sell otherwise regulated devices without accountability. In an email, Scott Curley, a spokesperson for the ATF, denied that the agency has issued inconsistent rulings.
He said the ATF sets rules for selling suppressors in accordance with the Gun Control Act , which requires agents to prove the intended use of any parts they call silencers in order to bring a case.
This makes technical assessments notoriously difficult. Got a tip for us? Use SecureDrop or Signal to securely send messages and files to The Verge without revealing your identity.
The federal government began regulating silencers in , following an era in which they frequently did turn up in crimes. But ATF agents today insist that criminals seldom use the devices in violent crimes. According to one study , federal courts prosecuted cases involving silencers between and , and a criminal fired a weapon in only 2 percent of them. How much a silencer quiets the noise varies depending on the silencer, the firearm and the type of ammunition used.
Some but not all can make firing relatively safe without hearing protection. A Walther. The best silencers can muffle that to about decibels, about the noise of a rock concert. An infinitesimal number of crimes like, far less than 1 percent have involved silencers in the last decade, according to an analysis published in the Western Criminology Review , a peer-reviewed research journal that focuses on crime.
Well, they add weight and length, for one, making firearms more difficult to conceal. Some also require special ammunition and modifications to the firearm to function reliably.
I suspect that's why they're not the accessory of choice for those to aim to do others harm. For example, suppressors are regulated federally by the National Firearms Act of Differences in state law are why 42 states allow civilian ownership of suppressors and eight do not. Which brings us to our next topic….
You live in one of the only two states where you can own a suppressor but not hunt with one. Fortunately, the attitude toward the use of suppressors while hunting has been changing in a good way. Since , 18 states have legalized hunting with a suppressor. Hopefully, the two New England holdouts will come along shortly.
We do this because we know the importance of protecting our hearing. Unfortunately, our mindset often changes when switching from the range to the treestand. There are a lot of other benefits of hunting with a suppressor. Here are just five of them:. One of the great joys of hunting is being outdoors and enjoying the tranquility of nature. The report of a gunshot is loud. Given that hunting is a lifetime pursuit for most people, that percentage can add up faster than you might think.
Every hunter knows that shot placement is key to a successful harvest. One of the easiest ways to improve the accuracy of your shot placement is by using a suppressor. This is because of physics. In addition to quieting your shot, a suppressor also reduces felt recoil and muzzle climb. Easier shooting leads to easier accuracy which leads to easier hunting. Hunting with a suppressor can help protect others around you. There might be other hunters who are outside your line of sight but still within earshot.
If you choose to wear traditional hearing protection, you might not know that those other hunters are there.
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