Posted on 03/01/2012 4:01:23 AM PST by marktwain
PHOENIX -- Arizonans may soon be able to hunt quieter.
Legislation approved Tuesday by the state House would repeal laws that now prohibit hunters from using any sort of silencer or muffler on their weapons. HB 2728 also would specifically bar the state Game and Fish Commission from imposing any bans of its own.
The 42-14 vote came over the objections of Rep. Russ Jones, R-Yuma, who said it flies in the face of public safety concerns.
"If I have a silencer on a rifle or pistol, I can shoot it off in my backyard and my neighbor won't know about it, even though (firing near a residence) is prohibited by law,' he said. And Jones, who is a hunter, said the devices make no sense even out in the field.
"If I hear other firearms, I'm able to know there is other activity, other hunters in the area,' he said. "With suppressors, you wouldn't know that.'
But Rep. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, who crafted the measure, said there are legitimate reasons for hunters to use noise suppressors.
He said weapons with lower recoil are more accurate. Gowan also said that lower recoil means a constituent, a wounded veteran with an artificial shoulder, will be able to go hunting.
Gowan also rejected Jones' arguments that having people firing weapons that others cannot hear can be dangerous.
"I don't understand what he's talking about,' he said, saying that the attachments do not totally silence the sound.
"You can still hear it,' Gowan explained. "It's just the decibels aren't enough to damage your eardrums.'
Nor did he believe that it is bad for hunters not to know others may be nearby.
"If you know it's hunting land, it's hunting land.'
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, said he's not worried because a hunter needs federal approval before being allowed to purchase a silencer.
Thomas Mangan, spokesman for the federla Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said would-be buyers have to go through a more-intensive screening than what is required simply to purchase a weapon. That involves an application and fingerprints as well as approval of the head of the local law enforcement agency.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
It’s obvious. The government wants gunowners to go deaf so they can’t listen to talk radio.
No, not really. It depends entirely on the caliber, the ammo and the suppressor. Some pistols, like 22's, will suppress very nicely. Big rifles are very hard to suppress, but can be brought down to levels that make them harder to identify -as- a gunshot. I have a suppressor on a Ruger mk iii 22, and it makes it very, very quiet. Like a hand clap. I also have a suppressor on a Kimber .45, and it is still a loud thump, but it does take the extreme top off, and more than just 15%. Maybe half. It's enough that I have no discomfort firing it indoors without hearing protection. And the bit about lowering recoil? Well... sure, anything that adds weight to the barrel is going to contribute to less muzzle rise and somewhat less recoil, but I'm not sure that on a hunting rifle it would even be noticeable. It's not a muzzle brake. It probably helps more on my 22 Ruger, but then it doesn't have much recoil to start with.
A suppressor weighs one to two pounds. Heavier rifle, less recoil.
A supersonic round sounds like you unhook an air hose and get that compressed gas release. The bullet goes along cracking the sound barrier as usual. A subsonic round makes bullet noise depending upon it’s shape. Get the shape right and it is only a low hum, barely audible and not identifiable.
Accuracy is often increased, perhaps because there is less possibilty of bullet upset as it leaves the muzzle.
There is a lot of good information on silencer use on the interenet, and plenty of bad information as well.
Are you against bowhunting as well?
The Constitution
Has always been silent on
The question of Ducks
Thanks for that link. Saved it to my favorites.
I was hoping to get a silencer for all of my pistols someday.
Hating the bureaucracy, though.
The increased accuracy thing is interesting. Never having used one I was 'naturally' thinking homemade, gangster type 'silencer', not Professionally made, like with rifling.
And I think we all know any suppressor doesn't eliminate all the sound. Except for Dem Pols and the MSM, that is :-)
Like the 'all plastic' Glock not being seen by Airport scanners. That misinformation came from a line in a Bruce Willis movie and the Dems and MSM ran with it.
That info was just on Glenn Beck's GBTV last week)
“...weapons with lower recoil are more accurate.”
False.
Start with a .22 LR.
Get a suppressor for every caliber, just have your extra barrells threaded to accept that caliber-specific suppressor. You don't have to buy a suppressor for every pistol you have unless you have lots of time and dough.
ATF NFA branch backlog for me is 6 months
There is a lot of good information on silencer use on the internet, and plenty of bad information as well.
OMG!
Please say it isn't so!
I’m developing a good relationship with a dealer in my area. I’m hoping he can walk me through this whole thing.
(Still floored from the news about Breitbart here)
It is part of the 1968 gun law. That is federal gun law.
I was hoping to get a silencer for all of my pistols someday.
Don’t use a .22LR can for a 223 rifle, because while the bullet will pass the baffles fine, the can will blow up due to lighter constriction and reduced volume.
Hunters do not wear hearing protection in the field and are exposed to damaging sound levels when they shoot. That is the real reason to allow silencers.
My comment was about flash suppressors. All they do is channel the muzzle flash dowwnwards so as to help prevent the shooter's eyes from being briefly affected by the flash while shooting in the dark.....
“Accelerating the mass of the projectile creates almost all of the recoil. A smaller component relates to the gasses ejected behind the round and can be mitigated by using a muzzle brake. A silencer would do almost nothing to control recoil.”
From the Wikikpedia article:
“Suppressors reduce firing recoil significantly, primarily by diverting and trapping the propellant gas. Propellant gas is generally a fraction of the projectile mass, but it exits the muzzle at multiples of the projectile velocity, and since recoil energy is a function of mass times velocity squared the elimination of the propellant recoil can be significant. Paulson et al., discussing low-velocity pistol calibers, suggest the recoil reduction is around 15%.[2] With high-velocity calibers recoil reduction runs in the range of 20–30%.[20] The added weight of the suppressor—normally 300 to 500 grams—also contributes to the reduction of the recoil. Further, the pressure against the face of each baffle is higher than the pressure on its reverse side, making each baffle a miniature “pneumatic ram” which pulls the suppressor forward on the weapon, contributing a counter recoil force.”
Sure they can. The FEDS regulate sale and possession. States regulate aplication. In Idaho, it's legal to hunt with a suppressor. But you still have to comply with Federal NFA rules and do the Form 4 and pay your $200 for the tax stamp, etc. In Florida my gunsmith/FFL dealer informs me of something I'd not been previously aware: If I'm carrying my EDC concealed, I can not also carry my lawfully owned suppressor for the same weapon. But I can screw it on and use it to quietly and permanently "suppress" an intruder in my home.
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