Suppressors aid hunters’ hearing

The Hearing Protection Act would make several adjustments to the regulatory procedure of firearm suppressors. My reform would replace the current onerous system with the same National Instant Criminal Background Check System that a law-abiding citizen goes through to buy a legal firearm.

The greatest hurdle I’ve discovered during this process has been overcoming what I dub the “James Bond effect.” Hollywood misrepresents suppressors. America has come to identify these tools as completely silent, as when 007 defeats scores of enemies in crowded areas without notice.

Even America’s esteemed U.S. senators have fallen into the trap, one claiming, “When someone gets shot by a gun with a silencer, it’s quiet. Witnesses might not hear. Police will be less likely to track down the shooter.”

That review receives four Pinocchios in my book. Suppressors do not decrease the sonic boom a bullet makes crossing the sound barrier.

Many cities use important technology from the company ShotSpotter to triangulate gun shots for improved response time. This has been a significant help to local law enforcement to get a handle on violent neighborhoods. Some have suggested that suppressors would significantly hamper the effort to pinpoint a firearm discharge. Not according to ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clark, who in a Washington Post article dismissed the concern saying, “We have successfully if not inadvertently detected confirmed suppressed gunfire within our existing deployments.”

Hunters and recreational shooters stand to benefit. Studies in medical journals and by the CDC have shown a direct correlation between exposure to gunfire and noise-induced hearing loss. Some European nations have adopted these reforms for our more congested century. It makes sense.

Suppressors are not “silencers.” They reduce the muzzle blast by around 30-35 decibels, bringing most firearms into the

130dB range. Take the AR-15, for example. Most measurements will calculate 165 dBs unsuppressed. The suppressed round discharges at about

135dBs, louder than a NASCAR race. This is not silent. In fact it’s not even quiet — it’s loud.

Rep. Jeff Duncan is a Republican from South Carolina.