True North Reports by Whitney Tipton 6/9/2019
Politicians are calling for a ban on silencers after a disgruntled Virginia Beach, Virginia, city employee used one while gunning down 12 co-workers.
A silencer, sometimes called a “suppressor,†is any device fitted to the end of a gun that lowers its sound output, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).
They are very difficult to obtain
Regulated under the National Firearms Act of 1934, obtaining one legally means being fingerprinted and photographed, going through an extensive background check, registering the part with the federal government and paying the government a $200 tax beyond the cost of the actual suppressor, which averages around $1,000. After the paperwork, waiting for approval could take eight months or longer.
“Silencers are a luxury item for gun owners. They’re very expensive and take a long time to approve. I’ve had customers who have waited up to two years,†said Brandon Maddox, owner of Dakota Silencer and a member of the National ATF Advisory Board for silencers.
They are not common
The ATF‘s 2017 statistics showed that there were 1.3 million total silencers registered in the United States, which is roughly double than the number of currently registered machine guns, another notoriously difficult weapon to obtain. And much less than the 9.3 million guns manufactured in the U.S. in 2015 alone.
More:
http://truenorthreports.com/politicians-are-calling-for-a-ban-on-silencers-heres-what-you-need-to-know
