Anyone who knows me knows this is a subject near and dear to my heart, whether you’ve had to endure my constant complaints about tinnitus in both my ears or have had the experience of saying something to me over and over while I keep asking you to repeat yourself as I struggle over the sound of high pitch ringing.
The entire saga is exasperated now by the fact that I live on a ranch in what must be one of the most peaceful places on earth, and I realize that I’ll never be able to enjoy the soothing sound of silence, barring some medical breakthrough. But what’s done is done, I guess, and part of the endeavor when it comes to the Second Amendment and the preservation of our Constitutional rights is ensuring a better future for the generations to come. That’s exactly what Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Congressman Michael Cloud of Texas are trying to accomplish with the Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing or SHUSH Act.
The bill seeks to eliminate excessive regulation and simplify the purchasing process of firearm suppressors, reducing arbitrary bureaucratic red tape for law-abiding citizens who choose to pursue their passion while protecting their hearing health. SHUSH Act cosponsors include Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and John Curtis (R-UT), and have also drawn the support of pro-Second Amendment advocacy groups, Gun Owners of America, the National Association for Gun Rights, the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
But why do we need this fight in the first place? There are a few answers to that question, covering topics like the incessant need of people who only call themselves American to chip away at our civil liberties and Hollywood propaganda, whether on purpose or simply due to the film and television industry being deceptive by means of stupidity. You decide.
“Despite what Hollywood may lead you to believe, silencers aren’t silent, and they aren’t just for secret agents… They are a vital tool for hearing protection for countless marksmen and gun enthusiasts across America, and making them prohibitively difficult to obtain is an assault on the 2nd Amendment. The SHUSH Act eliminates federal regulation of silencers and treats them as the non-lethal accessory that they are,” says Senator Lee.
I’d like to add that obstacles making silencer ownership difficult and more arduous are also an assault on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For years, I would have this conversation with ATF agents at their booth while attending SHOT Show. Not only can silencers be a significant tool to prevent hearing loss, but they can also protect those of us who already suffer damage from being exposed to ongoing deterioration. I would even go so far as to cite case studies demonstrating that tinnitus has been found to increase the risk of suicide as it causes emotional stress that can be extreme, bringing on anxiety, depression, or sleep disorders.
Every year, I would get some ATF agent with an IQ barely equivalent to his shoe size to grin as if about to profoundly put me in my place before saying, “Well, you don’t have to shoot guns,” to which I would always respond, “Neither does anyone need to be able to dine in at every restaurant in the city, but they still need to provide ramps and wheelchair access.” At this point, the agent would find his way out of the conversation by either walking away or telling me he didn’t want to have the conversation. Sore losers.
“Suppressors are a vital tool for responsible gun owners that protect hearing, enhance safety, and reduce firearm noise—but thanks to Hollywood and federal overreach, they’ve been unfairly vilified… Law-abiding Americans shouldn’t have to endure months of red tape and pay an additional tax just to access a safety accessory. The SHUSH Act puts an end to this unnecessary bureaucratic red tape, eliminates the federal tax, and prevents state overreach by treating suppressors like any other firearm accessory,” says Congressman Cloud.
In addition to being taxed $200 on a Constitutionally protected non-lethal accessory that acts as a safety and hearing protection device, those who wish to use a silencer for hunting and sporting purposes must fill out a battery of forms each time they purchase one, an unnecessary and redundant process designed to be cumbersome, intentionally discouraging purchases in a creative yet brazen infringement upon the Second Amendment. The burdensome process also requires fingerprints and passport photos for every transaction. The best part is that once you jump through all these hoops, you are subject to wait times for approval that may come in more than twelve months, although that has been improved in most cases over the past few years. All of this is for an accessory that amounts to not much more than a muffler.
“Suppressors are accessories and should be treated just like magazines, scopes, or gun stocks… Treating an accessory the same as a gun sets a bad precedence for anti-gun legislators to further regulate other accessories in the future. There’s no reason they should be subjected to the Brady registration scheme. We’re happy and privileged to be able to work with Sen. Lee and Rep. Cloud on this legislation,” said Hunter King from the National Association for Gun Rights.
If passed, the SHUSH Act will eliminate federal regulation and purposeful misclassification of suppressors as firearms under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968. All taxes, fees, and registration requirements will also be prohibited, as will state regulations concerning the manufacture, transfer, transport, or possession of suppressors. The SHUSH Act will also exempt suppressors from Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations, strike provisions for mandatory minimum sentences for suppressor possession in criminal cases, and provide a provision to refund $200 tax stamps to anyone who made purchases within two years prior to the bill’s enactment.
One odd provision of the SHUSH Act is that it expressly allows current and retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed firearm with a suppressor attached. What is odd is the singling out of this one subset, which eludes to the idea that the general public will not be afforded this option, a distinction that, frankly, flies in the face of the bill’s intent.
Opponents of the bill do so because it is diametric to their anti-Second Amendment agenda and because they lack knowledge and education on the subject, an increasingly prevalent quality of smooth-brained leftists across the board. Everytown for Gun Safety threw its hat in the ring with a heaping spoon of hyperbole in line with the rhetoric we’ve all come to expect from that dung pile of an organization.
“Silencers pose a significant danger in the wrong hands… They make it harder for bystanders or law enforcement to identify and react quickly to gunshots. Policymakers should block the gun lobby’s dangerous efforts to deregulate silencers,” according to Everytown.
Aidan Johnston, the Director of Government Affairs at Gun Owners of America, is excited about what the SHUSH Act means for shooters, not just for the safety benefits but also for the reversal of infringements upon Constitutional rights that have been allowed to run rough shod over law-abiding Americans for far too long.
“Gun Owners of America applauds the introduction of the ‘Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing Act’ (SHUSH) Act. The SHUSH Act would not only remove suppressors from the federal regulations of the National Firearms Act, but also treat suppressors as any other firearm accessory – free from the infringing background check process. Senator Lee’s bill will not only benefit hunters and sport shooters, but also take much needed steps for gun owners to restore the rights protected by the Second Amendment,” said Johnston.
While passage of the SHUSH Act is not guaranteed, if there was a time to take back our rights, it is now. The bill will also paint a clear picture for Americans as to which politicians actually care about safety measures and which ones pretend to when the narrative suits their disarmament agenda. The SHUSH Act will also put this administration’s feet to the fire to see how committed everyone is to the Second Amendment beyond just words. Now is the time to contact your Senators and Congressmen and let them know to exercise their vote in support of your rights as a law-abiding American, lest you exercise your right come the next election to put them on the unemployment line.
While I may miss some of the commenters since the website “improvement” made them and older articles disappear, on the plus side the Duly Elected Mayor of the Short Bus going missing IS a plus…
I’ll cut the chase…Saying it hurt my ears to appease those hauling around Gun Control an Agenda History Confirms is Rooted in Racism and Genocide is as pathetic as calling the AR-15 a modern sporting rifle to appease Gun Control zealots who by all accounts are not worth spit.
You want to argue with Gun Control then you Define Gun Control by its History. That way the jury can weigh The Truth About Gun Control against a Constitutional Right.
🚽📀
void…you little man are to the Second Amendment what a drunk farting gasbag is to fine dining.
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Would love to see them as regulated as barrels even if NY would still keep them illegal locally. The increase in observed data alone would be if great value to everyone from hunters to competitive shooters to the military. Oddly would probably only want to get a few for 22lr, 45-70, and 375 Ruger but that’s likely post move years from now regardless.
I sure like carrying a gat in nearby Indiana with nary a permission slip or CCL. I can t see ILLANNOY ever being OK without a federal clubbing. Good luck in NY!
Right now we are just looking to make it as painful and expensive for the state as is possible while setting up free states to take advantage of anything that shakes loose or presents an opportunity. If we get anything it is welcome but it’s likely going to get worse before we see improvement…..or you know like Illinois.
The Dems aren’t going to allow anything remotely pro-Gun through the Senate. Unless a Court intervenes or DJT just waives everything, nothing is going to change.
Normally I would fully agree with you. With a lot of their slush funds drying up however I can see a future willingness to wheel and deal on some issues as they get desperate and the courts don’t save them past activist judges at the district level.
atavistic,
“The Dems aren’t going to allow anything remotely pro-Gun through the Senate.”
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
For the unaware, the U.S. Senate has a rule that 60 U.S. Senators must agree (e.g. vote) to bring legislation to the U.S. Senate floor to then vote on its passage (which only requires 51 U.S. Senators to vote to pass it at that point). Saying it another way, in order for the U.S. Senate to approve legislation, that legislation must clear TWO votes in the U.S. Senate, where the first vote requires at least 60 Senators to approve and the second vote requires at least 51 Senators to approve.
In light of the fact that the SHUSH act requires 60 U.S. Senators to vote for it, I don’t see that happening since it would require at least 6 Democrat Senators to vote for it (assuming that all 54 Republican Senators vote for it which is anything but guaranteed).
Yes, and no. All the Republicans need to do is put this in reconciliation which they can because there is a tax on NFA items. The only problem is that leadership has to have the stones to do it. Sadly, I don’t see them having a willingness to stand up for gun owners.
Back when I first started shooting nobody thought of ear pro. The reason I started wearing muffs was it cut down the flinching, not to save ear drums.
Now I hear frogs crickets Katydids and locusts year round.
Suppressors/ silencers should be an accessory, like different stocks, grips, scopes, whatever.
Ridiculous.
“ ‘Silencers pose a significant danger in the wrong hands… They make it harder for bystanders or law enforcement to identify and react quickly to gunshots. Policymakers should block the gun lobby’s dangerous efforts to deregulate silencers, according to Everytown.”
Evidently Everytown has employees with their only job being making up BS.
Just like government employees their only real job is to justify their position.
There is no level of full blown clown show stupidity they won’t stoop to to fulfill that mission. Zero shame. Zero pride. Zero integrity.
They call those people Democrats.
Yeah because gangbangers are concerned about their hearing. They pick up their switch accessorized glock walk down the street mow down a bunch of their rivals and some innocent by standers then head home get cranked up on meth and call it a day. All of the grammar nazis hear can stick it.
While I won’t waste electrons picking apart your tirade, I do note that “elude/allude” caught my eye.
it works with the topic.
Hear/here!
The wrong hands ALREADY have them!
As I mentioned above, all legislation (outside of budget bills) requires an affirmative vote of 60 U.S. Senators in order to go forward. Since there are 54 Republican U.S. Senators, at least 6 Democrat U.S. Senators must support legislation to pass through the U.S. Senate. What are the odds that 6 Democrat Senators would thus support the SHUSH act?
Here is a clue to the answer to that question:
Democrats refused to vote to protect women from men (masquerading as women) in women’s sports. If Democrats refuse to protect women from financial, emotional, and physical injury in sports, why would Democrats vote to protect our hearing from gunshots given that Democrats hate private firearm ownership? Answer: they will not.
Elissa Slotkin didn’t vote on that. She was also picked to give the Dem response to Trump. There’s your future “moderate/normal” Dem presidential candidate.
Well she also did three tours in Iraq torturing people for the CIA. If it weren’t for double standards Libs would have none.
Not all democrats in congress are stupid and some are willing to work with republicans. For example, the house voted to censure Al Green due to the disruptive stunt he pulled during Trumps speech at congress a few days ago, and democrats went nuts mostly except for 10 of them who voted with republicans to censure Al Green.
Some of them saw their districts becoming more red politically this last election, they see the metaphorical ‘writing on the wall’ that the country is swinging away from democrat policies and the support for democrats they thought they had really wasn’t there. The truth is the country is tired of the democrat crazy from the last four years, at least the majority of voters are tired of it and want it to end and soundly rejected it. What little credibility the democrats had going into the election was already strained, and then Kamala burst that bubble of ‘manufactured joy joy joy’ burst by showing the world her incompetence and stupid. All that, and now with some transparency added with Trump, some of these democrats know their political shelf-life has a good chance of expiring come mid terms if they don’t change their ways and actually get ‘bipartisan’ instead of bipolar.
But, time will tell.
Dem Senators are special kind of stupid (with their 6yr terms). Lurch/Fetterman is, shockingly, proving to be the most sane of the dem coven.
.40 cal Booger,
I concur with neiowa that Democrat U.S. Senators are ardent Democrat platform supporters and thus will NOT support the SHUSH act.
Sure, a handful of Democrat U.S. Representatives will become moderates to keep their seats. That does not help us in the U.S. Senate.
Time will tell.
Well, That Didn’t Take Long: Hunter Biden Is Already Broke.
”
…
It’s been six weeks since the Biden Crime Family gravy train left the station, and Hunter is already strapped for cash. You really can’t make this stuff up, folks.
According to court filings in California, Hunter’s attorneys claim he ‘has suffered a significant downturn in his income and has significant debt in the millions of dollars range.’ Imagine that; when daddy’s no longer pulling the strings from the Oval Office, the money well runs dry faster than Hunter can say ‘Where’s my crack pipe?
…”
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/03/06/hunter-biden-is-already-broke-and-i-cant-stop-laughing-n4937634
Surely, as an established high-value selling artist, he should be able to sell some of his fantastic paintings? It’s not like those sales were all just some money-laundering, influence-peddling grift?
Didn’t you hear? The burned up in the fires in LA recently. But he has a MASSIVE insurance claim pending!
Maybe they should look into Hunter for arson.
He needs one more big payout now that the gravy train has ended.
I that would be a cash flow problem. Pretty sure that POS has never made any
“income”.
Remember the Alamo!
“Today, March 6, marks the anniversary of the bloody conclusion to one of the most famous fights in American history, the 1836 Battle of the Alamo. Brutal, tyrannical Gen. Santa Anna’s Mexican troops massacred every last one of the old mission’s American and Mexican defenders, but history proved that the vicious “victor” was the loser, as the legacy of the Alamo continues to inspire Americans even today.
…”
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/03/06/remember-the-alamo-n4937626
I’d bet none of them used silencers….Just sayin.’
Mexico didn’t try to ban their guns either, but here are today with Mexico basically trying just that.
When Congress passed Obamacare, the bill had 2,700 pages and over 20,000 pages of regulations. NOT not one member of Congress had time to read the entire bill. Pelosi herself said “we need to pass this to see what’s in it”. If I was a Congressmen, I would have added one sentence “to amend FOPA and allow the NFA registry to accept any type of firearms or registrations”. That would have overturned the machine gun ban and today we could have $500 M16’s and maybe since Bill Ruger is dead, a factory select fire $300 10/22. $40,000 for a legal transferable, pre May 19th 1986 M16’s is ridiculous.
In the unlikely event it gets past the Senate, or for that matter out of committee, it will make no difference to those of us in ban states. Even though Gavin Noisome will be moving on in a couple of years after being termed out, there is simply no way that California will voluntarily repeal its silencer ban. I have to assume this will be true in the other slave states.
Read the article more carefully. There is a provision overturning all state and local prohibitions and regulations. Meaningful for those like me trapped behind enemy lines in the people’s republic of Illinois.
This will never happen… Unless the Republicans get super majorities in both houses and keep the White House… then you will still have worthless RINOs… this is a waste of energy…
This would stand a better chance rolled into an appropriation bill that sokilast – democrat senators are interested in passing. Though I doubt enough Republican senators would back this proposal.
The American Suppressor Association (ASA): Kash at ATF – What This Means for Suppressors. February Policy Update!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aisyPASsJ2Y
How They’re Red Flagging Children to Disarm Their Parents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRvWbRBljvw
BREAKING: Red flag confiscation laws exploit 6-year-old to break into parent’s home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDV49SK87WI
If You’re Panicked, Thinking Amy Coney Barrett Is Just Another David Souter, Slow Your Roll.
https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/law/if-youre-panicked-thinking-amy-coney-barrett-is-just-another-david-souter-slow-your-roll/
Some conservative commentators have levied unwarranted attacks against Justice Amy Coney Barrett, but this is wrong and a strategic mistake as explained by Mark Smith Four Boxes Diner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgqfK3JxR6A
yeah well, she sided with gov’t censorship so…
ok, so these fucks won’t let me post as the severed bleeding head of arnold palmer jr., but my original list name, cmeat, which got banned when faradays site was ddos’d, works. why’d they ban me? is this cmeat thing gonna vaporize too now? sheesh, gay.
Check Your Privilege Because the Second Amendment Gives Everyone the Right to Be Safe.
“The U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, under the leadership of Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), held a committee hearing focused on the right of law-abiding Americans to protect themselves.
…”
https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/gun-nation/check-your-privilege-because-the-second-amendment-gives-everyone-the-right-to-be-safe/
Hopefully, legalization would bring down prices on suppressors…. I’m not paying 800 or $1000 for an accessory….
The simple ones that are largely improved century old designs absolutely as well as 22lr and low pressure options. Anything modern I wouldn’t expect more than a 20% markdown until widespread adoption is a thing and even then tricky to tell where the 3d printed options will end up in mass manufacturing.
I’d be interested to discover -what- , if anything, will be done to the existing records of suppressor possession as it stands currently.
Total elimination of firearms purchase records MUST be the -next- target of freedom s respecting legislators.