On February 14, the Hearing Protection Act reached a major milestone, as the 100th cosponsor was added to the House version of the bill.
The Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 367/S. 59) will provide America’s sportsmen and women with easier access to firearm suppressors by removing them from the scope of the National Firearms Act (NFA), replacing the outdated federal transfer process with an instantaneous NICS background check. In doing so, law-abiding citizens will remain able to purchase suppressors, while prohibited persons will continue to be barred from purchasing or possessing them. Suppressors are simply mufflers for firearms, which function by trapping the expanding gasses at the muzzle, allowing them to slowly cool in a controlled environment. On average, suppressors reduce the noise of a gunshot by 20-35 decibels (dB), roughly the same sound reduction as earplugs or earmuffs.
Presently, leaders of the bipartisan Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) are signed-on to both the House and Senate versions of the bill, and 80 percent of the cosponsors on the House bill are CSC Members, while 88 percent of the cosponsors on the Senate bill are CSC Members. Moving forward, CSF will continue to work alongside our partners at the American Suppressor Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and the National Rifle Association to encourage additional support for this common-sense legislation.
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?
