On April 15, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) hosted a Breakfast Briefing on Capitol Hill entitled, “Firearm Suppressors: Fact and Fiction.”
Nine leaders and Members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) along with CSF partner organizations joined the briefing’s sponsor, the American Suppressor Association (ASA). ASA President Knox Williams presented on the numerous benefits of firearm suppressors. “Suppressors, also known as silencers, are one of the most misunderstood firearm accessories in existence. Despite common beliefs, suppressors do not eliminate noise, they simply reduce it. However, this deep-seated fallacy has caused suppressors to remain a political hot topic for over 80 years,” said Williams. “Concentrated educational efforts in recent years have done much to shift the perception of suppressors from misconception to reality, but there is still much work to do. We look forward to working with the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, the leading voice of sportsmen and women in Congress, to enact positive suppressor reform to benefit the sporting and hunting communities for generations to come.”
CSF President Jeff Crane also addressed the audience. “We are appreciative of the work that the American Suppressor Association and Members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus do to expand suppressor use throughout the country. Suppressors help to mitigate the potentially dangerous noise associated with firearms and are a useful tool for recreational shooting and hunting.”
There are currently 39 states that allow for legal possession of suppressors, and 35 of those states permit their use for some type of hunting. Some states allow suppressors to be used for all types of hunting, others restrict them to hunting varmint and nuisance species only, and some states ban their use for hunting. In addition to the work of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus to allow suppressor use at a federal level, state legislative caucus members have collaborated with CSF, ASA and other partners to introduce legislation on the issue this year, including: Illinois (H 433), Iowa (S 427), Massachusetts (H 1305), Minnesota (H 1434), New Hampshire (H 500), Oklahoma (S 555), and Vermont (H 210).
CSF would like to thank the Sponsor of today’s Breakfast Briefing, the American Suppressor Association.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
