Let’s say you’ve been living under a rock. Let’s also you’ve been there since November 8, 2016. You might have missed out on the fact that, 1) Donald Trump was elected president of these United States and 2) everyone and their mom declared the Hearing Protection Act to be a done deal.
The Hearing Protection Act, in case that rock kept you from getting the news, is a bill that has been introduced and is currently sitting in the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. And if you’ve ever watched Schoolhouse Rock, you know that being in a subcommittee is not the same as being a law.
The endless cheerleading for the bill by the ASA and several manufacturers has led to the common refrain of, “I’m waiting for HPA to pass” which has effectively killed off any and all demand in the consumer market. Every company, dealer, and industry source I’ve spoken with has indicated that things are slow. Really slow.
So slow, in fact, that SilencerCo has laid off a sizable number of employees. Manufacturers are offering great rebates, and dealers are finally catching up on organizing their baseball card collections.
Even Hitler found out about it, and whoever captioned this Downfall scene did a masterful job of pointing out exactly who is to blame. And it’s a really great way to start the weekend.