Two federal lawmakers last week reintroduced legislation to ban and confiscate suppressors nationwide.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12) last Thursday brought back to Capitol Hill what’s known as the “HEAR Act.”
HEAR Act stands for Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act. And it would prohibit the importation, sale, manufacturing, transfer, and possession of suppressors. Emphasis was added on “possession” for the obvious reason. It means even current can owners would be affected!
“Gun silencers are devices designed for a very specific purpose – to suppress the sound of gunfire from unsuspecting victims and reduce the chances they can run, hide, take cover, and call the police during an active shooter situation,” said Sen. Menendez in a press release obtained by GunsAmerica.
“It is well past time that we pass the HEAR Act, legislation that would prevent armed assailants from using deadly devices that only make incidents of gun violence all the more dangerous,” he added.
Along with the sweeping ban, the HEAR Act would (per the press release):
- Authorize a buyback program for silencers using Byrne JAG grants;
- Provide individuals with a 90-day grace period after the date of enactment for individuals to comply with the ban;
- Provide limited exceptions for certain current and former law enforcement personnel, for certain Atomic Energy personnel and purpose, and for certain authorized testing or experimentation.
Not surprisingly, the legislation is backed by a collection of the usual suspects.
Senate cosponsors include, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
SEE ALSO: Suppressor Myth #1 – Silencers Make Guns “Hollywood Assassin” Silent
And, in the House of Representatives, cosponsors include Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas-30), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.-13), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.-04), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.-12), and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.-13).
The America Suppressor Association (ASA) was quick to condemn the reintroduction of the HEAR Act.
“ASA is unequivocally opposed to any attempt to ban suppressors,” the organization said in a press release.
“We are unwavering in our support of the Second Amendment and the individual right to possess suppressors. We will fight this tooth and nail. With the facts on our side, we will succeed.”
SEE ALSO: Suppressor Myth #2 – Owning a Silencer Allows the Government to Search Your House
Along with defeating the HEAR Act, ASA is once again pushing a pro-suppressor bill in Congress known as The Hearing Protection Act.
The Hearing Protection Act would regulate suppressors like traditional firearms. In other words, they would no longer be classified under the 1934 National Firearms Act. Prospective purchasers wouldn’t need to submit fingerprints, pay the tax stamp or register their lawfully owned property with the government.
“At the American Suppressor Association, we believe every law-abiding citizen has the right to protect their hearing while exercising their inalienable Second Amendment rights,” said ASA.
“Just like you shouldn’t have to pay a poll tax to vote, you should not have to pay $200 to protect your hearing. That’s why we helped write the Hearing Protection Act in 2015, and why we continue to lead the charge for its passage,” ASA continued.
So, who wins out in the end? The HEAR Act or the Hearing Protection Act?
Let us hope it’s the latter. But the truth is, for the foreseeable future, nothing is likely to change on the suppressor front. Congress is still too divided to push through any major 2A reform, be it pro-2A reform or anti-2A reform.
As always though, stay tuned for updates.
A full copy of the HEAR Act:
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I work for a gun shop as well as in Law Enforcement and I know people from Texas to Canada that own all kinds of NFA Items none of these people went against any law to get these items. All are law abiding citizens but all of us will not comply with a sleepy Joe Biden administration and be the sheep. We have to stand together and say enough is enough. I have several items all bought legally and they belong to me. The items you all have belong to you. Most local Law Enforcement agencies will not enforce the laws he is making turning hundreds of thousands of us into felons overnight. They can’t arrest us all and they can’t come to our houses all at once.
Here’s a stupid question: How many “silencers” (I prefer to call them “suppressors” because they only completely silence stuff in Hollywood’s fantasies…. but I digress)….again back to the question: How many NFA registered suppressors/silencers have EVER been used in the commission of a crime? I would venture to guess NONE. Perhaps I am wrong but out of the probably million or more LEGALLY-OWNED suppressors on the NFA registry, none of these are currently being used to murder anyone. SO, since they ALL have to be registered (to folks who get fingerprinted and have to go thru background checks and wait up to a YEAR (sometimes longer) and pay $200 for a stamp just to exercise your Second Amendment rights, these assholes in congress are (ONCE AGAIN) going after the WRONG FOLKS. Maybe they ought to go after ACTUAL CRIMINALS who maybe are making their own ILLEGAL (unregistered, obviously) silencers?! Call me crazy, but…..Are these people like Menendez really THIS EFFING STUPID? Do they not already know that there aren’t any NFA registered silencers being used in crimes? So then, who are they really going after? We already know, don’t we? And it ain’t the criminals!
Why scare people? Zero chance this happens.
It’s far past any reasonable time to coimpletely these traitors from public office. Our military should march in,areest,and incarcerate every one of them.After a swift trial publically execute them.They know they took an Oath to uphold the Constitution and therefore should forfiet therir live’s.
This is totally idiotic. Their argument is something from Hollywood or Kindergarten. Not only that but the politicians introducing this anti 2A BULLSHIT, need to be jailed for treason to the U.S. Constitution and their oath of office. It will be a good day in America when Feinstein and Schumer cash in their chips. In the meantime, these fascist pigs that support this bill need to be replaced. This fight in America between the patriots and the progressives is getting deadly serious as can be witnessed by the progressive mass shooters. Ever notice that none of the gun toting conservative, law abiding rednecks are doing the shooting.
Perhaps impeach those “elected officials” which are not upholding thier Oath of office to PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION, not to destroy it and work on items like reducing the US debt and border control. IF those scribes elected in office want to ban any item from legal law abiding US CITIZENS,perhaps they should ban and remove those items from Federal, State and local inventories FIRST, it would make sense if legal citizens cannot own those items then neither should the Federal, State and local entities or employees which work for US…
If anything should be banned, it’s the ATF!
Pretty typical and it is always the same worthless, commie pieces of shit.
ROFLMAO, WE THE PEOPLE ARE NOT OWNED BY ANY HUMAN, PERIOD. OUR GOD GIVEN NATURAL BORN CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED INALIENABLE RIGHTS ARE NOT UP FOR, NOR WILL EVER BE UP FOR DEBATE BY ANY HUMAN, PERIOD. NO FREE HUMAN HAS TO TURN IN ANY of THEIR PROPERTY, PERIOD. These SATANIC NAZI WANNABE POWER HAPPY CONTROL FREAK HUMAN GIVEN government JOB TITLED TERRORIST TYRANT CRIMINALS HAVE NO SAY AGAINST OUR GOD GIVEN NATURAL BORN CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED INALIENABLE RIGHTS, PERIOD. The 2nd AMENDMENT WAS WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY for these SATANIC NAZI WANNABE POWER HAPPY CONTROL FREAK HUMAN GIVEN government JOB TITLED TERRORIST TYRANT CRIMINALS we HAVE IN EVERY LEVEL of government THROUGHOUT the UNITED STATES. It is TIME for the AMERICAN MALES TO FIND THEIR OR GROW A PAIR of F CKING BALLS AND QUIT BEING AND ACTING LIKE BRAIN DEAD SIMPLETON HUMAN GIVEN government JOB TITLED WORSHIPING ANUS SUCKING KOOL-AID LAPPING MENTALLY CASTRATED HUMAN CONTROLLED OWNED SHEEPLE SLAVE COWARD MORONS. START STANDING THE F CK UP AGAINST THIS SATANIC, EVIL REGIME.
Mark this tragic day in history. This IS pivotal moment moving forward in what will so be an unarmed world controlled by AI. Sounds crazy right? Like man on mars, self piloting ROV’s with nuclear capability, the dollar is falling, the twin towers got blown up… Yeah.. history isn’t full of pivotal moments that the leaders made decisions behind our backs or anything….
When a Federal Law can be passed by one side, with no one to stop them, just, BLEH. There’s the law, obey or die!!….. er… a… I mean… There’s the NEW Law. Now obey or die!!!!
Wow, the ignorance among the Dems is astounding. The constituents just suck it up without any attempt to verify the BS that they’re being fed.
The truth of the matter is, for most ammunition, the velocity is much faster than the speed of sound,
which means that the target will never hear the sonic shock wave crack, because they will be dead before it reaches them.
Where do these idiots come up with their BS? Me thinks they need to educated on basic acoustics.
They get their smarts from watching Hollywood BS. Good factoids like revolvers with silencers that make a whisper when fired. Imbeciles leading imbeciles.
Suppressors reduce report, but not to the extent that Hollywood portrays in the movies. That’s Mouse Fart isn’t even close. A reduction of 30 to 40dB, in most common cartridges drops the decibals to the 100 to 120 dB range, which is the cut off point in OSHA’s Decibal Guidline for loud noise requiring Hearing Protection. Sustained exposure to noise levels above 120dB will damage hearing. Even if you own a Suppressor, Hearing Protection is still recommended. That’s Reason #1 of why you don’t see a buttload of crime involving Suppressors. They simply don’t reduce the noise like they’re portrayed in the movies.
Suppressors are an NFA regulated Other Device. Which requires the $200 Mother May I Tax Stamp, a Background Check up your Keister, and notifying local authorities you possess the device legally under the NFA.
Manufacturing, Buying, Owning and Using a Suppressor without the required NFA hurdles being passed is a Felony Offense.
That’s Reason #2 of why it’s not a device being abused.
Could a Suppressor be made to reduce the sound down to a Mouse Fart? Yes, but it would be impractical, and would only work with very low velocity cartridges like .22 Short or Sub Sonic .22 LR. Even then, it would be a limited in the number of times it could be used, as the heat builds and eventually destroys the insulation between the baffles
The OSS and SOE developed a Suppressor during WW II that would reduce report to the 20 – 40dB range. The device could only be used for 3 or 4 shots before it was useless.
Menendez, is making an A$$ out of himself with his willfully ignorant claims.
Hiram Percy Maxim invented the Suppressor to save Hunters, Soldiers and Gun Enthusiests’ HEARING, and it says as much in the Patent. A Suppressor, is nothing more than a muffler for a gun.
Would I like to own one? You bet, but I refuse to pay an Unconstititional Tax and won’t Add my name to any CONFISCATE FIRST Illegal Registery.
Menendez needs to go F**k himself, or better yet all the Co-Sponsors can join him in a Cingressional Circle Jerk.
Why aren’t suppressor advocates circulating videos of suppressed firearms being fired?
Seems to me that showing what they really do is critical to this debate.
What “debate”?
After all these years, why do so many still insist the Left just wants ‘safety’?
They don’t, they want control, as in you don’t get a gun, or a suppressor, period.
They don’t WANT a debate, they want confiscation, across the board.
They couldn’t care less what we say or do, NO GUNS is their motto, and they aren’t interested in anything else.
This make the horrible assumption that all guns/suppressors are used for wrongful purposes. I would like to see some statistics showing the number of homicides and/or gun related crimes committed in conjunction with a suppressor. Let’s not forget, there are only a handful of rounds that are even remotely close to “silent”. Yet another example of the uneducated legislator creating a solution for which the problem simply does not exist.
Anyone who votes for this bill should be sent out to collect the ones that do not get turned in.
What? You guys want to wait for someone to use a suppressor in a mass shooting before they have to be collected? Like bump stocks? Imagine a scenario where a shooter lets loose with a suppressed AR in a crowded public area with a suppressor. The chaos and confusion would be even more deadly than the guy in Vegas with his bump stocks.
The fact that a mass shooting involving a suppressor hasn’t happened yet is a pretty good argument for heavier regulation for weapons too dangerous for American streets. Imagine how much safer schools and streets all across America would be if AR-15s and AK-47s were regulated Class 3 like suppressors.
Shall. Not. Be. Infringed. In other words, GFYS…
You do realize that a surprised AR is still very loud.. Loud enough where you still have to wear hearing protection! It only takes the edge off enough where you won’t get permanent hearing damage without protection for very limited use. Don’t believe Hollywood, it isn’t at all factual! I’m sure that these uninformed politicians also have no idea what they are talking about..
“Blue dog (he/him)” ?? Me thinks you’re sheep in wolf’s clothing. Too easy man, try again. Nobody who subscribes to this uses pronouns.
You watch too much Hollywood. Suppressors do not make a gun go pew, pew very quietly and are still very loud. I think the country would be much safer without democrats spouting out stupid lies like they do. Did you notice that since democrats have said how deadly an AR-15 is that the prevalence of them being used in PUBLIC mass shootings has risen? That’s no coincidence. Also the fact that they have not been used in a crime yet is huge and shows you morons thinking the Hollywood hit men using them like they do in the real world is just ridiculous.
Ridiculous. Completely ridiculous.
If you need to “imagine” something, it’s because it’s not a realistic or logical answer.
We’ve been banging our heads against the wall for a generation over this stuff. Thousands of gun laws, many of which are just duplicates, that try to regulate the property of people who would no more violate a firearms law than they would run a red light. None of these efforts ever work to reduce the violence they claim to target, because they refuse to acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla in the room – the criminals that liberals are so concerned with rehabilitating or at least keeping out of jail because incarceration is “racist” or some such nonsense are the ones who commit those crimes over and over and over. Look at places like New York – no cash bail is the law, so even those arrested for violent crimes get out of jail within hours of arrest. Allegedly there’s at least 1 in NYC who’s been arrested over 40 times(!) and is still on the street. In Chicago, the Machine refuses to acknowledge over 150,000 criminal gang members roam the streets, committing the majority of violent crimes, especially shootings. But the gangs have one of those Chicago “deals” with politicians, so they are largely left alone. It’s pure insanity on steroids in our cities, yet liberals stand by while crime escalates and instead pretend normal people need to be regulated more.
I don’t expect a reasoned answer to this reply, only the usual personal attacks that you all do when you’re cornered. But go back to your pals at the local democrat club and let them know that the normal people aren’t buying their BS any more. We are done.
Imagine how great our nation would be if we didn’t have democrats and rinos.
You are just trolling bluedog/troll. Loser!
I think there’s a good chance you will rape someone in the near future, so I’m gonna need you to turn in your penis for the safety of all. Doesn’t matter if you never intend to, or have ever been charged/convicted, it makes me feel safer. Don’t worry, we will “buy it back”.
We don’t live in La La Land like you and need to “imagine” everything. We have common sense and know. And we know, class 3 reg of AR-15’s would mean nothing for school safety. Go back to your safe space fool.
Some facts: gunshots are about 160db. That’s louder than a jet engine. Suppressors, AT BEST, only lower the report by about 30bdb. So a gunshot will still be about 130db. That’s as loud as a jackhammer. So yeah, in your scenario, people are still going to know someone is shooting. And Suppressors don’t do anything to mitigate then sonic boom of a supersonic bullet, which is the louder sound anyways.
I was laughing so hard with your comment that I spewed coffee all over the place. You must be a comedian! Do you write Biden’s speeches because it sounds like something he would say.
You are just as stupid as the people trying pass such shit. The 1934 act is unconstitutional. You idiots keep pushing and one day the Supreme Court is going to throw a wet blanket over all this.
Ever hear of the Black Market?
Bans and regulations just make for a bigger Black Market.
It’s as plain as the nose on your face, you just refuse to acknowledge facts and logic.
User name with preferred pronouns says it all for me. Go F-your/them self/selves.
Blue Dog (numb/nut)
1. You’re either a troll (which requires you to go f**k yourself)
2. A liberal communist. (which requires you to go f**k yourself)
3. Too stupid to comprehend the subject matter. (which requires you to go f**k yourself)
4. Not worth arguing with because all of the above. (which requires you to go f**k yourself)
Dave (Shall/Not/Be/Infringed)
Please educate yourself before commenting. Anyone within about a quarter mile will still hear your suppressed firearm and know it was a gun shot. Exceptions might be rimfire or subsonic.
Movies are make believe.
Also, regardless of what liberals say, people kill people, not firearms. There are around 400 million AR-15s and around 24 people used them kill.
Using your argument. Mufflers should be banned so everyone can hear a vehicle coming, since there are over 1000x more car vs pedestrian than people shot with a rifle. Should we also regulate vehicles? Facts prove they are far more dangerous and deadly.
So So wait, to get a permit to buy a suppressor, one has to pass the same heightened background check as someone seeking to buy an automatic weapon and other regulated items. So what makes Menedez think that persons who have passed the background check are running around the countryside ambushing poor unsuspecting victims who won’t know they’ve been shot until after they are dead? I mean really, his suggestions are completely illogical, unsupported by evidence [who needs evidence?], and therefore utterly ridiculous.
Hollywood movies and I’m serious.
hey lady you can’t outrun a bullet suppressed or not……..