Free Republic

Brandon Maddox and Silencer Central is an American success story. Brandon went from a Federal Firearms License (FFL) in his home to the largest silencer dealer in the USA. Today, Brandon’s companies dominate the silencer/suppressor market, regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA). This correspondent met Brandon Maddox at the 2024 SHOT Show. Brandon had read several AmmoLand articles, recognized this writer, and started a conversation. Brandon graciously agreed to be interviewed. This is the first in a series of articles resulting from several interviews.Brandon was born in Alabama. His father spent a tour in the Army after a Reserve...

On January 18, 2023, at the SHOT Show, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) hosted a slide show on what has been happening in the National Firearms Act Division of the ATF. This presentation did not explain the ramifications of the controversial “new rule” on stabilizing pistol braces. It was an overview of the internal happenings in the NFA division of the ATF.This correspondent has seen many such presentations in other organizations in his career. There is useful information to be gained. Do not expect bureaucracies to air their “dirty laundry” in public. Each agency and each...

From some time in 2019 to the present, the Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, has been running an Operation Silent Night to intercept items coming from China that can be used to make suppressors/silencers. The operation has seized a lot of material, with relatively few arrests. The items seized are routinely marketed as solvent traps, fuel filters, or pill containers. As most of them do not have holes so that a bullet can travel through them, it is difficult to prosecute people for importing a “silencer” or even “silencer parts” when similar items...

The same person who invented the muffler for the automobile invented them for guns. Hiram Maxim, the inventor, called them “Silencers”. An obvious reason they were not invented earlier is the inside of a gun muffler is more complex than a gun barrel. Early silencer designs were made of mild steel, making them subject to corrosion. A silencer for a gun using black powder would require a significant effort to clean after each use. Smokeless/non-corrosive gunpowder did not become common until about 1900. At that point, gun mufflers became more practical. Increasing prosperity in society, brought about by technical innovation...

Image from Marine.mil Knight Armaments Company Suppressor on M38 cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten The Marine Corps is well on its way to procuring suppressors (silencers) for all small arms in its arsenal.In 2020, the Marines have procured 6,700 suppressors for M4, M4A1, and M27 rifles. Suppressors are in common use with the M38 squad designated marksman rifle.Another 7,000 suppressors are in the pipeline. The goal is to have about 30,000 suppressors by the fiscal year 2023. From Defense Visual Information Service:In 2020, PM IW procured about 6,700 small arms suppressors through Defense Logistics Agency’s Tailored Logistic Program, and...

Marine grunts in close combat formations will start receiving suppressors for their small arms at the end of this year, Task & Purpose has learned. Marine Corps Systems Command on Thursday announced its intent to award a single-source contract to Knight's Armament Company for 5.56 small arms suppressors for use on the Corps' arsenal of M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles, M4 carbines, and M4A1 Close Quarter Battle Weapons.

Some of the usuals anti-gun suspects in the Senate have proposed new legislation that would ban suppressors following a shooting in Virginia Beach, Va., in which the perpetrator a handgun fitted with the device. But the problem is, this particular accessory is already one of the most regulated by the federal government. The Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act is being introduced by Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez (NJ), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Richard Blumenthal (CA) and Tim Kaine (VA), all of whom claim — wrongly — that suppressors are ‘silencers’ in the true sense of the word and that as...

The Supreme Court on Monday denied a request to take up a challenge to a federal law requiring the registration of some firearms including silencers. Challengers in the case believe the Second Amendment protects such firearm accessories. An appeals court had held that a silencer is not a "bearable" arm protected by the Constitution. The case comes as a silencer was used during the recent Virginia Beach massacre and President Donald Trump suggested he'd look into restrictions on gun silencers. The Trump administration had also urged the court not to take up the issue. The order was issued without comment...

If you've seen a Welrod for the first time, you might not realize what it is. When disassembled, it resembles a piece of industrial equipment, the sort of thing you might find in an obscure corner of the hardware store next to caulk dispensers or hot glue guns. In fact, it was nicknamed the "bicycle pump" by those who used it. It also has no easily-identifiable markings or symbols on its plain metal body. This historically-significant weapon has a very specific purpose: silent use behind enemy lines. Although the secretive nature of this gun makes tracking its use difficult, reports...

Gun porn.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) claims the attacker who opened fire on Las Vegas concert goers was only stopped “because he didn’t have a silencer on his weapon.” According to the Washington Post, Kaine asked, “Can you imagine what this would have been if he had silencers on those weapons?” His use of the word “silencer” is an echo of other leftists like Rosanne Cash and Gabby Giffords, both of whom use the word “silencer” to describe suppressors.

Two days after an attacker opened fire on concert goers in Las Vegas, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) announced he was shelving legislation to deregulate suppressors. -snip- Ryan has now shelved the Hearing Protection Act, which was introduced into Congress on January 9; it is the legislation containing suppressor deregulation. The Act does not legalize suppressors–as they are already legal–rather, it removes the burdensome process for acquiring them and erases the federal tax that must be paid in order to receive permission to posses one. House Speaker Paul Ryan says NRA-backed bill to ease regulations on gun silencers is shelved...

In 2015 the Hearing Protection Act, which would deregulate suppressors and remove a $200 per unit ATF tax, was introduced into the House. Since then, a few different versions have been up for consideration. Now that Republicans are the majority in Congress and with a Republican sitting in the White House, the bill has a decent chance of passing. Not surprisingly, gun control zealots are opposed to the bill for all the wrong reasons. On Tuesday, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand falsely claimed witnesses can't hear gun shots that come from suppressed firearms and argued deregulating this piece of hardware would...

Kalamazoo, Michigan, Department of Public Safety Chief Jeffrey Hadley will appear with gun control proponent Gabby Giffords Monday to argue against suppressor ownership by “everyday Americans” and to oppose national reciprocity for concealed carry. Hadley is one of 20 law enforcement officers who have agreed to be part of Gabby Giffords’s “Law Enforcement Coalition for Common Sense.” The group will be announced Monday and will talk about “reasonable” gun control on Capitol Hill. Hadley claims national recognition of concealed carry permits will lead to a setting where “there [could] be more people carrying weapons that shouldn’t be.”

Video of me talking to my Congressman, Rep. Kevin Brady, about the Hearing Protection Act. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7rmPUXbdBo

The Marine Corps is considering suppressing all small arms. Military organizations have historically been slow to adopt new technologies. They have been slow to adopt optical sights, which were overwhelmingly adopted by sportsmen long before they become common for ordinary soldiers. In the U.S. that was during the first Gulf War. Suppressors have been commonly used by sportsmen around the world for decades long before widespread adoption by any military. The United States is the exception, due to irrational regulation. The Marine Corp is in the process of equipping an entire battalion with suppressed small arms. From ameriforce.net: In...

Map at American Suppressor Association Many American gun owners and shooters do not know that it is legal to own and use silencers, suppressors, or perhaps the most descriptive term gun mufflers, in the United States.  There are only a handful of states that cling to the antiquated notion the suppressors should be banned because ... guns....  There is no logical or rational argument to be made for that position, but it persists. The states where suppressors are banned are the same tiny minority that persist with unreasonable and likely unconstitutional restrictions on the ownership and carry of firearms for...

SilencerCo Integrally Suppressed Prototype 9mm One of the first items that was attracting a significant amount of attention at the Shot Show Industry Day at the Range was this SilencerCo integrally suppressed 9mm.  They had brought out a similar prototype in September of 2015, but this was a new, improved, version.  It is not ready for sale, but I was told that they hope to have them on the market some time in 2016.  Of course, you will need a tax stamp from the ATF if you are not issued one in the military or as a peace officer...

While the United States leads the world in most ways, it has lagged in the adoption of mufflers for guns.   In most of Europe, mufflers on guns are not controversial.   In Finland, ownership, manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of gun mufflers is a constitutional right.   On most of the continent, gun mufflers are easier to acquire than firearms; their use is considered good manners. Not so in the United States.   Due to a weird quirk in firearms law passed during the Roosevelt administration, gun mufflers require a $200 dollar tax to be paid to the federal government.  Processing of...

A couple of weekends ago I was at the range testing out my new Surefire 762 suppressor. I ended up doing more chatting than shooting as I answered a great deal of questions about obtaining NFA items (Silencers, Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, Short Barreled Rifles, Short Barreled Shotguns, Any Other Weapons(AOW), etc)