Suppressing the "Issues"

While suppressors have no immediate defensive usage in a typical civilian shooting, they're just plain ol' fun. Combine that with the fact that there is less noise, less perceived recoil and now a heavier, more stable firearm, a suppressor can become a good teaching tool for beginners.

This shooter is firing his eighth round out of a pistol, ever. He's standing on a slight hill, so one shoulder is slightly higher than the other, and his finger is on the trigger because he is actually firing. While smoking isn't recommended at the range, it does show how relaxed this brand-new shooter is. His first few rounds can be spent focusing on proper trigger-press, sight-alignment/sight-picture, proper grip and a good stance (minus the hill), rather than flinching from the noise and recoil and being "scared" of the gun.

This technique might be useful for a true beginner, and really only for about 10 rounds or so. Think of it as training wheels. They have to come off so you can start riding the bike the way it was designed.

Silencers are legal for civilians in most states (approximately 40 out of 50 states). The proper name (although they are interchangeable for purposes of the BATFE) is a suppressor, as the device suppresses noise and doesn't completely silence it. Having one does not make you a hit man, ninja assassin, James Bond or Jack Bauer. They do have legitimate uses (see above). Recently, I heard a famous firearms instructor advise keeping one on your home defense gun. The reason being that if you have kids/spouse in the house, you definitely need to be able to hear during or after shooting, because you may be yelling, "Where are you?" or "Come here." or something similar. While many fear their legal usage in a self-defense shooting because of the stigma attached to the object when it comes to a court case, the reality is that people are becoming more and more informed and open-minded when it comes to firearms in America.

Suppressors/silencers were initially taxed/restricted because authorities feared illegal poaching during the great depression. Many other weapons were added to this class of taxed and restricted weapons: Machine Guns, Short-Barreled Shotguns, Short-Barreled Rifles and bizarre hidden guns, like pen-guns called Any-Other Weapons or AOWs for short. The usual procedure to procure such weapons (which as I said are legal in about 40 out of 50 states) is to fill out a form in duplicate, get fingerprinted, get photographed, get a chief law enforcement officer's (sheriff's) signature, pay a $200 (or $5 for AOW or Short Barreled Shotgun) tax and then wait 3-9 months for approval before picking up the item.

As the 2nd amendment forbids the government from abridging the people's right to keep and bear arms, the form is not to "have" the weapon. It is legal for the government to tax the weapon, so they make you do all this fingerprinting, etc, as an application to pay the tax on the weapon. Kind of sneaky, but quasi-legal. These weapons, called class 3 guns on the internet, but in actuality called title 2 guns (class 3 is a license for a gun dealer to deal these weapons, it has nothing to do with individuals, title 2 is what the law calls these weapons) have only been used twice by their legal owners in committing a crime since these laws were passed in the 1930's. Both people who committed crimes were police officers.

Silencers are fun. They can be very useful as a training aid and even as a defensive aid in home defense. They may not cause you to yell, "Chloe! Re-task the number 4 satellite to my position" but, they can put a smile on your face at the range.