Rep. Mike Cloud (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) are introducing legislation Friday to eliminate the excessive regulations which make suppressor acquisition so cumbersome.
Their legislation seizes on the hearing protection afforded by suppressors and is titled, Silencers Help Us Save Hearing (SHUSH) Act.
Suppressors are currently under the purview of the National Firearms Act (NFA) and Cloud and Lee explain that this creates myriad steps for law-abiding citizens to follow/fulfill in order to get an accessory that has no barrel, no trigger, no action, no magazine capacity nor ability to accept a magazine. The steps for acquisition include, but are not limited to, filling out ATF forms, being fingerprinted and provided those prints to an FFL, being photographed and providing those photos to an FFL as well, paying a $200 federal tax, and undergoing a background check/suppressor registration process that can take 9 to 12 months.
The SHUSH Act remedies this quagmire by:
- [Removing] suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA) and Gun Control Act (GCA), treating them as standard firearm accessories.
- [Prohibiting] states from imposing taxes or registration requirements on suppressors.
- [Ending] the $200 transfer tax and streamlines the acquisition process for law-abiding Americans.
The SHUSH Act would also “[permit] active and retired law enforcement to carry concealed suppressors.”
In coming press joint release, Cloud and Lee point out: “Suppressors…are firearm accessories designed to improve safety and comfort for hunters, sports shooters, and marksmen. These tools reduce gunfire noise, lessen recoil, and minimize muzzle blast. Despite common misconceptions, suppressors do not render firearms silent.”
Another benefit from suppressors, noted by Breitbart News in November 2024, is the role they play in protecting the environment by keeping it quiet, or quieter. In other words, in addition to benefits of lessened recoil, reduced muzzle blast, and hearing protection, suppressors reduce man-made noises in the environment.
Clouds commented on SHUSH Act, saying, ““Suppressors are a vital tool for responsible gun owners that protect hearing, enhance safety, and reduce firearm noise—but thanks to Hollywood and federal overreach, they’ve been unfairly vilified. Law-abiding Americans shouldn’t have to endure months of red tape and pay an additional tax just to access a safety accessory. The SHUSH Act puts an end to this unnecessary bureaucratic red tape, eliminates the federal tax, and prevents state overreach by treating suppressors like any other firearm accessory.”
Lee said, “Despite what Hollywood may lead you to believe, silencers aren’t silent, and they aren’t just for secret agents. They are a vital tool for hearing protection for countless marksmen and gun enthusiasts across America, and making them prohibitively difficult to obtain is an assault on the 2ndAmendment. The SHUSH Act eliminates federal regulation of silencers and treats them as the non-lethal accessory that they are.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly:
