Profits Before Public Safety — Easy Access to Silencers Means Big Money for the Gun Lobby
It’s no wonder deregulating silencers is at the top of the gun lobby’s agenda. Making this policy priority a legislative reality would mean big business for the gun lobby at a time when gun sales remain uncertain. With the election of NRA-backed President Trump and a Republican majority in Congress that’s beholden to the gun lobby, gun sales have dropped dramatically.
The FBI performed fewer background checks in the five months following the 2016 presidential election than in the same period one year earlier — suggesting that customers feel less urgency to stockpile guns under gun lobby-friendly President Trump.
As a result, the gun lobby is being forced to find new ways to boost sales, and easing regulations on silencers could mean big profits. Silencers sell from anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to up to $2,500 for the most expensive silencer sold by Advanced Armament.
Currently, silencers are required to be federally registered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and individuals must undergo a background check and pay a $200 application transfer fee. The silencer industry is so eager to boost sales that SilencerCo, a major silencer manufacturer, offers rebates to consumers to cover this fee to encourage them to buy more products.
Despite the fact that nearly 3 out of 4 gun owners support current law regarding the sale of silencers, right now, the gun lobby is pushing an irresponsible bill in Congress that allows silencers to be sold like a consumer firearm.
If silencers were deregulated and sold without any oversight, they could be sold without background checks through unlicensed, private sales at gun shows or through the internet. They could also easily get in the hands of dangerous people, like domestic abusers.
Because silencers mask the sound of gunfire, they make it much more difficult for law enforcement to locate active shooters and easier for criminals to escape. For the past 80 years, effective regulation has made silencers extremely difficult for criminals to obtain, but when dangerous individuals have gotten their hands on silencers, the results have been devastating.
But the gun lobby is willing to sacrifice public safety for profit.
Over the past six years, the number of silencers registered with ATF has more than tripled. In 2010, 285,087 silencers were registered, representing 10 percent of all registered weapons under the National Firearms Act (NFA). As of February 2016, 902,805 were registered, representing 20 percent of all registered NFA weapons.
The bottom line: With gun sales down for the first time in nearly a decade, the gun lobby needs to find new ways to make money. That’s why they’re pushing a dangerous bill that would flood the legal and illegal market for silencers and their accessories, creating a profiting boom for the gun lobby, which once again puts profit ahead of public safety.
Want to learn more? Check out these related resources:
- Medium Post: Five Things to Know about the Danger of Silencers
- Fact Sheet: Gutting Federal Regulation of Silencers
About Us: Americans for Responsible Solutions and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence are committed to advancing commonsense change that makes communities safer from gun violence. We provide expertise in firearms litigation, lead grassroots coalitions, and educate the public on the prove solutions to Americas gun violence epidemic.
