Suppressor vs Silencer

We’ve all seen the movies – the bad buy screws a “silencer” on the front of his gun and then shoots his victim and what we hear sounds like a blow dart.

Unfortunately, our leaders watch these movies and assume that Hollywood is 100% accurate. News Flash: Hollywood is NOT real! Most suppressed firearms still register around 110-120db while firearms that are not suppressed will register around 155db. Sounds over 80db are considered loud and sounds over 110db are extremely loud. Sounds over 140db are usually painful to the human ear and can cause permanent hearing damage.

Decibel Level	Sound Examples
180	Explosion
170	Space Shuttle Launch
160	Inside a speaker at a rock concert
150	Shotgun – Unsuppressed Firearms
140	Firecracker
130	Jet Engine
120	Siren – Suppressed Firearms
110	Gas powered chainsaw – Supressed Firearms
100	Motorcycles, Helicopters
90	Gas powered lawnmower – hair dryer
80	Toilet flush – truck
70	Dishwasher – cars, city traffic
60	Air conditioner – moderate conversation
50	Bird call
40	Average home noise, refrigerator
30	Soft whisper
20	Leaves rustling
10	Breathing – Faint sounds we can hear
0	Silence

The reality is that a suppressed firearm is still about as loud as a gas powered chainsaw or a siren – definitely not the whisper quiet sound that Hollywood makes it out to be. Chainsaw and siren sounds lasts much longer than the report of a firearm so it makes the firearm seem quieter.

Why is this important? Suppressors are considered an NFA (National Firearms Act) item. In order to purchase one you must pass a more thorough background check than standard firearm purchases, and for each NFA item you must pay a $200 Tax Stamp fee. This fee is in addition to the cost of the suppressor itself.

Our leaders really need to spend some time being educated about the impacts of the laws they pass. Many of our legislators have no clue about anything related to firearms and are quick to enact laws to ban or severely restrict the rights of the citizens they serve. Removing suppressors from the NFA would actually help to make shooting a little safer by reducing the need for auditory protection. Some leaders have attempted to write legislation to do this, but they are almost immediately stricken down – never even making it out of committee.