Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) is limited in scope. It will, if Senate Republicans do not once again earn the title “the stupid party,” prevent the biggest tax increase and enable the biggest welfare reform in history. It can’t accomplish everything necessary to save the republic at once, but it can accomplish something Republicans, when they had the power, failed to do over and over again: delist suppressors.
Graphic: X Screenshot
At present, to own a suppressor one must submit to rigorous government vetting and pay a non-transferrable $200 tax. Approval can take up to a year. Suppressor retailers now offer their services handling the paperwork, but suppressors, because their numbers are artificially reduced, commonly retail for around $1000, in many cases much more than the retail price of the guns to which they’ll be affixed. It’s the same process necessary to buy a machine gun. Delisting will remove the tax, intrusive and unnecessary vetting, and enable the free market to substantially lower prices. Americans think that a good thing. Socialists don’t.
Maintaining maximum control over the lives of Americans is baked into the DNA of Democrats. They lied about a vegetable in the White House because they didn’t want Americans to have a choice for president. They’re lying about suppressors too.
Graphic: X Screenshot
Suppressors can’t help criminals “hide their crimes,” and the idea they would keep police from responding to mass shootings is absurd, another example of Democrats thinking Americans stupid.
Suppressors do not “silence” gunshots. They merely reduce the decibel level such that gunshots don’t damage hearing. A suppressed gunshot is not at all what Hollywood dramatically represents. It sounds like a gunshot, but a gunshot of a different timbre. Nothing can remove the “crack” of a supersonic bullet. Though ammunition loaded to be subsonic can slightly alter the sound signature, a suppressed gunshot still sounds like a gunshot.
As I noted in Hope and change for suppressor reform?, anti-liberty/gun cracktivists continually lie about suppressors. From 1995-2005 there were 153 federal cases involving suppressors. That’s about 15 a year, and the majority of those, out of some 80,000 federal criminal prosecutions per year, are for mere possession not suppressor use in furtherance of another crime. That’s a rounding error. Criminal misuse is so low because there is virtually no advantage for criminals.
In Suppressors: trust the science, I pointed out the hypocrisy of Democrats who demand we “trust the science,” except the science of suppressors:
In a time when so much medical “science” seems to be politically manipulated to make an argument against gun ownership and the Second Amendment in the United States, Stephen Gutowski of The Reload reports at least one medical group has looked at the science and come out with an endorsement that if allowed to influence the rationale of legislation, would improve the health and hearing of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), representing over 13,000 ear, nose and throat specialists, issued a position statement this month supporting the use of suppressors, often called silencers, in reducing harmful noise levels from firearms. It is their official stance that firearm suppressors are an effective tool for preventing hearing loss.
As part of the Big Beautiful Bill, passed by the House and now under consideration by the Senate, suppressors could be delisted. Around 40 pro-liberty/gun and medical organizations sent a letter to the House and Senate asking for just that:
“The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) is an unconstitutional tax scheme that impedes the ability of all Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” the letter states. “Justified by Congress as a revenue generating measure, the NFA was enacted prior to Wickard v. Filburn, the landmark case that significantly expanded the scope of the Commerce Clause. In 1937, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the NFA as a revenue generating measure in Sonzinsky v. US. On behalf of the American Suppressor Association and law-abiding gun owners nationwide, we call on Congress to permanently remove suppressors from the unconstitutional NFA tax scheme by inserting Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act into the reconciliation bill.” [Skip]
“Americans should not be taxed for a safety device that helps prevent irreversible damage to one of their senses while exercising their Constitutional rights.”
In the past, Mitch McConnell was instrumental in preventing suppressor delisting. At every opportunity he claimed the time wasn’t right. Reportedly, he and two Kentucky colleagues—Paul and Massie--are opposing the BBB, and with it, suppressor delisting. Fortunately, he is no longer the Republican Majority Leader, so his ability to affect the votes of other senators is minimal.
This is a rare opportunity to restore liberty. The time is right and getting in touch with one’s senators might, finally, do the job.
On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that we’ve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.