New Zealand Silencers: Cheap and Unregulated

Gun Watch ^ | 12 August, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Silencers are often referred to as suppressors.  The best descriptive term is gun muffler.

In New Zealand, which has a strong tradition of gun ownership, gun mufflers are unregulated and cheap.  They are for sale over the counter or in the mail.  The above ads or similar ones can be seen on the online buying and selling site for New Zealand, trademeco.nz.   From trademe.co.nz:

This Silencer will fit any centrefire rifle with 17CM of exposed barrel with a diameter smaller than 19mm.

Takes away the loud crack (down to about a 22 magnum noise) and helps protect your ears from permanent hearing loss.

Super strong tooling grade alloy construction designed to withstand bursts of Full Auto fire, making it virtually indestructible on a hunting rifle and keeping the weight down to just 370 grams.

There is no licence required to purchase these in New Zealand.

Rimfire gun mufflers are commonly available for under $20.   Consider that a New Zealand dollar is current valued a .65 U.S. dollars.

In New Zealand, this economy .22 rimfire gun muffler is selling for about $15.  Note the mention at the end of the unregulated status:

There are no age or licence restrictions on silencer sales.

In New Zealand, a 12 year old boy or girl can make some money doing chores, drop by the local sporting goods store, and pick up a gun muffler over the counter for a few dollars.

 In New Zealand, a country that even leftists would include in their definition of "developed", the murder rate is very low, .9 per hundred thousand.  It is a little lower than the U.K., and a little higher than Germany.   It is close to that of culturally similar groups in the United States, where, if you exclude American black and Hispanic crime, the murder rate is about 1.5 per 100k.  If you exclude the murders committed by illegal aliens, the U.S. rate for similar cultural groups is even closer. 

New Zealand tends to be a darling of the left.  The governments move back and forth between far left Socialist and Libertarian philosophies.    They do not see the need to place heavy regulation or taxes on gun mufflers.   In this they follow much of Europe, where possession and use of silencers/gun mufflers is considered to be polite.   Their use protects hearing and reduces noise pollution. 

In the United States, a person who desires a gun muffler must submit extensive paperwork to the federal government, pay a $200 tax, wait perhaps six months, and then take possession of a device that most amateur builders could create in an afternoon.  Once in possession, they cannot lend the device to a friend without the owner being present. 

The law is a holdover from the 1930's when the Roosevelt administration was attempting to bring as much regulatory power under federal government control as it could.  No reason for the $200 dollar tax on gun mufflers was given during the congressional debates.  From Criminal Use of Firearm Silencers (2007):

The 1934 congressional debates provide no explanation about why silencers were licensed.

No reason was given for the extreme penalty either.    Possession of an unlicensed gun muffler was made a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.  In 1934, $200 was equivalent to  $3,500 dollars today.  $10,000 had the purchasing power of $175,000 dollars today.

When considered as a safety device, the restrictions on gun mufflers in the U.S. have been one of the biggest public health fiascoes created by the government.  It has resulted in tens of millions of people's hearing loss over 80 years of draconian regulation.  To test this hypothesis, visit a gun show and look for hearing aids, or simply ask older members of the gun culture.  You will have to raise your voice.

Cross cultural comparisons are tricky, but the New Zealand and European experiences show that regulation of gun mufflers is superfluous in the United States. 

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

There never was any valid reason for the insane regulation of gun mufflers.

[broken_clock]

There never was any valid reason for the insane regulation of gun mufflers

Same reasoning as the Calif. ban on the Barrett .50 cal, the elites perceived these things as a threat to their security. Peasantry and logic be damned!

[backwoods-engineer]

I wish we could get rid of the stupid laws regulating gun mufflers. But I don’t think the Feds will relent. Almost all of the gains we have had since McDonald v Chicago have been at the state level.

[rikkir]

Too much Hollywood BS now.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Time to make full-auto and gun mufflers legal again in the US.

[Mariner]

I oppose the ban for those who want them, but I would never use one.

It would totally screw your carefully worked up load for your favorite rifle by altering the barrel resonance.

It could easily make a 1.0MOA rifle into a 6.0 MOA rifle.

Wear ear plugs and cover that with headgear.

[Secret Agent Man]

They were actually required in certain places if you were going to shoot. in other places where they were not required, they were often considered polite to be used.

[Secret Agent Man]

Silencers are used for two purposes. I can think of at least one as to why you’d want to possibly use one.

[tanuki]

That is literally what they are. Back at the turn of the 20th Century, Hiram Percy Maxim thought he had invented a car muffler.

[bjorn14]

As screwed up as Norwegian gun laws are. Silencers are legal and encouraged as being a good neighbor.

[Dutch Boy]

I agree. The government is playing a losing game outlawing weapons. It’s the the possession of the weapon that makes it bad, it’s the uncivilized use.

A responsible guy is perfectly safe with a sound suppressed full auto weapon. A bad guy can cause mayhem with a box cutter. The left reasons that the gun is the problem, not the person. Sounds backwards to me that the innocent should be punished for the deeds of a bad guy under the guise of public safety.

[Paine in the Neck]

I'm convinced that the bulk of gun regulation in this country is based on what people think they know from exposure to guns through the movies. In the case of 'silencers', they know that if you put one on a revolver it will make said revolver go 'pfft, pfft' when fired and this is dangerous because then assassins could run wild.

Likewise, people know machine guns should be banned else gangsters in Model As would be speeding down every Main St, mowing folks down by the score.

[RWB Patriot]

Heck, there was never a valid reason for the NFA period.

[RWB Patriot]

Anyone on here willing to give advice to a future muffler owner? Looking at getting two next year (one for a rifle and one for a pistol) so anything I need to know would be nice.

[marktwain]

“I’m convinced that the bulk of gun regulation in this country is based on what people think they know from exposure to guns through the movies.”

I believe that is part of the picture. (pun intended) The rest of the picture are the false messages about guns that have been promoted by the old media for decades as a way to “manufacture conscent” for the leftist agenda.

Why does anyone think that gun registration will lower the crime rate? There is not evidence to show that it does, and plenty of evidence to show the crime rate increasing.

But gun registration has been pushed by the old media and in the movies at nearly every opportunity.

If you ask leftist why they want gun registration, and you push them past the irrational “to solve crimes” meme, they eventually admit that the purpose is to make it easier for the government to confiscate guns, either piecemeal or in bulk, at some time or another.

[Mariner]

"I can think of at least one as to why you’d want to possibly use one."

Does it fit over a flash guard?

[Red in Blue PA]

I purchased 2 suppressors this summer. The pricing is insane but I bought the bullet.

Seriously, what is the real cost to manufacture a metal tube and some baffle inserts?

[Red in Blue PA]

Should read bit the bullet.

[Red in Blue PA]

Buy the largest caliber you can. But doing so, you can work it down to other callers with piston inserts.

For example, I bought a Silencerco Specwar762 made for 308, but I can use this on 300 blackout, 5.56 etc

Same with the Osprey 45 I purchased. I can use that on 40, 9mm etc.

2 suppressors can fit almost every gun you have. (Except for rimfire)