The anti-gun people are almost exclusively ignorant about EVERYTHING. They don’t know anything about guns, or how they work. They know nothing about ammo. While they constantly demand new laws be passed, they almost universally know nothing about how CURRENT laws work, often demanding laws that are laughably redundant.
Then there’s this:
So Jason Kilgore of Ceasefire Oregon can’t understand why lawful gun owners would want to buy suppressors. Well just peeking at Wikipedia looks like Suppressors occupy the gamut of legality around the world, from completely unregulated, to completely illegal, and many nations ENCOURAGE them. Why? Well the big one is guns are noisy, and putting a can on your gun cuts down on that noise. Hell the firearm suppressor, and the auto-muffler are practically the same device, and mufflers are mandated by law in this country. Drive by a shooting range in this country, or a sand pit or other public shooting area, or be near hunting grounds during hunting season and you’ll hear gunshots. While suppressors hardly make guns silent, they do diminish the noise so you don’t have to listen to hunters and sportsmen shooting.
Also guns are DANGEROUSLY loud. Just watch any organized shooting sport, or range. Before the range goes hot the range officer will almost always call out “Eyes and Ears!” before declaring the range “Hot” just to make sure everybody is wearing eye protection and hearing protection. Both of those things are a MUST when shooting as not having one, the other, or both could lead to serious injury. I’ve had the pleasure of shooting many types of suppressed firearms, and while all but a few could never be declared “quiet”, even rifles shooting super-sonic ammo are quiet enough to not hurt your ears while shooting without ear protection. So essentially the hearing protection is built in to a suppressed firearm.
This goes far beyond convenience. When on the range people might not be able to hear well with their ears in, or people will shout at each other to communicate. On a crowded range this can make communication difficult if several groups are all having loud conversations over their hearing protection. When hunting, not having your ears obstructed can mean you will better hear your quarry, as well as other hunters that may be nearby.
Home defense is a BIG one. Shooting inside is MUCH louder, as there is no place for the sound to escape to, even a smaller centerfire handgun fired inside a room of a house could potentially permanently damage your ears, let alone firing a rifle.
Also, they’re just cool!
Now here’s a question for you all, why do you think Jason had this question? It’s not like any of these reasons are hard to find.
I don’t think he had any problems finding the answers – more that he discarded them as soon as they didn’t match his opinion.
Baldr the Odious probably thinks that there is clearly some nefarious reason so many people want suppressors. If the gun owners themselves say something different, well that can’t possibly be true, so he’ll ignore it.
Heck, here in Blighty our gun laws are so regressive Baldr and his ilk look at them and cause flashfloods of drool. Over here, suppressors are just considered good manners.
I had the opportunity to try a suppressed Ruger MkIII at a range in the States earlier this year. It was my first time with a real firearm, and I thought it would be a good starting point. Quite comfortable, I could have used it all day.
(wished I had when the next gun in the list was a .45.)
If you find yourself in New England, shoot me an Email. .45 is kinda my bag!
I haven’t read solid evidence to this, but our suppressor laws came about in the great depression, and the word was the powers that be were concerned that the starving masses could more easily poach wild game if they had good access to suppressors. So when the NFA came about the very inexpensive suppressors now had to transferred with a $200 tax. These days doubling the price of a can isn’t that big a deal, but in those days paying $200 for a can when a brand new car cost $400 was a HUGE financial hardship.
Jason Kilgore — He who trains to employ a SWORD in Self Defense is griping about other people wanting a less noisy means of self defense?
Also note that *NOTHING* is ever good enough for them.
Remember how they say they *just* want waiting periods, or maybe universal background checks, or maybe registration, or maybe CLEO sign off?
And that they’re not against guns, or gun owners, they just want these laws to keep them from getting in the hands of “bad apples”?
Well supressors have ALL of those laws.
And the antis STILL complain when more and more people buy them
Let’s face it, there is no firearm or accessory that is “OK” for people like Jason. If they can ban it, restrict it, or limit it, they will. If gun owners like it, they hate it. The metric is that simple.
As we already knew, it’s not just gun deaths and injuries that they have a problem with, but gun sales as well.
Jason asks: “Why do law abiding citizens carrying or owning guns for protection need silencers?”
Do y’all know anyone who carries their gun with a can on it? I don’t.
I’d think that addition would quickly make a rather concealable pistol into a decidedly unconcealable one. Paired with the noise-reduction benefits, you’d think ol’ Baldr would approve!
At least, he would if adding a “silencer” didn’t make it an “assassin gun” in his mind. Methinks he’s been playing a bit too much “Splinter Cell” if he thinks carrying a suppressed pistol is either practical or silent.
To be fair this guy carries a suppressed pistol. Of course it’s a Beretta 21A (that is the size of a Beretta 92 with the can) and he packs it so if his dogs finds a venomous snake while walking he can kill it without drawing unnecessary attention.