The neighbors bemoaned the fact that their enjoyment of their secluded property this weekend had been destroyed by this fellow apparently seeing how fast he could empty out a 30-round magazine from a semi-auto rifle -- over and over again all day. Now these neighbors aren't anti-gun (I checked on that before making an offer on the property), but they are understandably annoyed when a neighbor's gun hobby interferes with their quieter hobbies (the husband is learning to play an antique pump organ, for example).
I would very much have liked to reply to their e-mail by saying that I have a semi-auto rifle too, but that being a considerate person, I always use a silencer when shooting in a residential area. The gun banners don't want me to be able to do that, because fewer people will have grudges against guns and "gun nuts" that way.
How many suburbanites have plenty of room in their backyards to practice target shooting with handguns, but wouldn't dream of doing so because the noise alone would upset the neighbors? Lots, and I'll bet there are even more who've thought of buying a gun and learning how to use it, but because they don't live near a shooting range, or wouldn't have time to get to one very often, they just skip the gun because they figure they can't practice with it at home.
The silencer ban may originally have been aimed at criminals, but today, when the materials and instructions for making silencers are readily available (materials for a few bucks at the hardware store, instructions free on the Internet), obviously no criminal who's planning on going out and shooting someone will have any trouble equipping himself with a serviceable makeshift silencer. Today, the silencer ban is all about discouraging gun use among the general, law abiding public.