The debate over whether to add suppressors to home defense weapons has gained significant traction in recent years.
As more Americans embrace responsible firearm ownership for personal protection, the conversation has evolved beyond simply which caliber or platform to choose. Today’s savvy gun owners are asking more sophisticated questions about optimizing their defensive setups, and suppressors frequently enter the discussion.
But do these devices actually enhance a home defense system, or do they introduce unnecessary complications during what would already be a high-stress situation? Let’s look at the practical realities of running suppressed in a home defense context.
Understanding What Suppressors Actually Do
First things first: Hollywood has done suppressors a tremendous disservice. Contrary to what movies suggest, suppressors don’t transform gunshots into whisper-quiet “pfft” sounds.
What they actually do is reduce the sound pressure level by about 20-35 decibels depending on the suppressor, ammunition, and firearm combination. For perspective, an unsuppressed AR-15 generates around 165 decibels, while a quality suppressor might bring this down to approximately 135 decibels – still louder than a jackhammer but significantly reduced.
I’ve spent the past six months running various suppressors on my home defense setups, and I can tell you definitively: these devices do not produce that signature “pfft” sound you hear in movies. The difference was dramatic but nothing like the movies.
The .223 AR rifle went from painfully loud to merely very loud, while the 300 Blackout AR pistol and 9mm Hellcat Pro pistol with subsonic ammunition achieved what I’d call “neighborhood friendly” levels – still clearly a gunshot, but less likely to cause permanent hearing damage with a single exposure.
The Hearing Protection Factor
Perhaps the most compelling argument for suppressing a home defense weapon is hearing protection. If you’ve ever fired a weapon indoors without ear protection, you know it’s an instantly disorienting experience. The sound reverberates off walls, temporarily deafening you and potentially causing permanent hearing damage. This disorientation could prove dangerous in a defensive scenario where situational awareness is critical.
During my testing, I fired both suppressed and unsuppressed rounds in an indoor range with minimal hearing protection. The unsuppressed rounds had the concussive blast that would leave unprotected ears ringing for hours, while the suppressed rounds, though still loud, didn’t produce the same debilitating effect.
For a home defense scenario where you won’t have time to use ear protection, this difference could be crucial for maintaining your sensory awareness. It could mean the difference between hearing an accomplice in another room or missing critical auditory cues while your ears are ringing like church bells on Sunday.
Debunking a Common Myth
Let’s tackle one of the more persistent myths in the suppressor world: the idea that a suppressed firearm somehow provides less deterrent effect than its louder counterpart. The truth is, even a suppressed gunshot indoors is dramatically louder than most people realize—we measured my “quiet” setup at 132dB, which is roughly equivalent to standing next to a jackhammer.
Trust me, there’s nothing subtle about it! This myth likely stems from Hollywood’s portrayal of suppressors as “silencers” that make guns whisper-quiet, when in reality, anyone in your home will absolutely recognize the distinctive crack of a firearm regardless of whether you’re running a can on it.
During a force-on-force training exercise last summer, we had “intruders” react to both suppressed and unsuppressed gunfire in various scenarios. Here’s what we discovered: the psychological deterrent of a firearm has very little to do with decibel level and everything to do with the intruder’s risk calculation.
When I fired my suppressed 300 Blackout indoors (using simunition, of course), not a single role-player mentioned the reduced sound as a factor in their decision to retreat—they were responding to the presence of armed resistance, period. One particularly candid role-player, a former military contractor, put it bluntly: “I didn’t think ‘oh that’s quieter than I expected,’ I thought ‘someone is shooting at me and I need to get out NOW.'”
Tactical Advantages Beyond Sound Reduction
Reduced muzzle flash is another significant but often overlooked benefit of suppressors. In a dark home at night, an unsuppressed AR-15 creates a momentarily blinding fireball that can severely impact your night vision.
My testing with a 8.5″ barrel AR-15 showed dramatic differences – the unsuppressed shots produced fireballs visible from 50 yards away in darkness, while the suppressed version showed only minimal flash that preserved my night vision.
Additionally, suppressors can improve shooting performance by reducing felt recoil and muzzle rise. This might seem like a range luxury, but in a high-stress defensive situation, anything that helps maintain accuracy through multiple shots could prove lifesaving. I’ve found that even relatively inexperienced shooters demonstrate noticeably better follow-up shot placement and overall control with suppressed firearms.
The Drawbacks: Size, Weight and Maneuverability
Nothing comes without trade-offs, and suppressors introduce some considerations for home defense use. Most obviously, they add considerable length to your firearm.
I tested a 7-inch suppressor on my AR-15 rifle, making it noticeably more cumbersome when navigating tight corners and doorways. This added length can make a significant difference when moving through a home with tight spaces, and is a reason to consider using a shorter firearm such as an AR pistol.
Weight is another factor – modern suppressors have gotten lighter, but they still add mass to the end of your barrel, changing the balance and handling characteristics of your weapon.
The front-heavy nature of a suppressed firearm requires practice and more strength for extended holding periods. I notice the weight effect much less on an AR pistol due to the lighter overall weight and better balance of the shorter weapon.
Cost Considerations
The regulatory hurdles associated with suppressor ownership can’t be ignored. Thanks to the National Firearms Act (NFA), acquiring a suppressor legally requires additional paperwork, a $200 tax stamp, and a waiting period that can stretch from a month to a few months in 2025.
However, the benefits far outweigh the additional cost of the suppressor and tax stamp. For the purposes of this discussion, I’m assuming you’re in a free state where suppressors are legal.
Practical Deployment Considerations
Perhaps the most pragmatic concern is how you store a suppressed weapon. Many gun owners keep their home defense firearms in quick-access safes, which may not accommodate the additional length of a suppressed weapon. It’s worth the effort and expense to find a storage solution that works for your suppressed firearm.
Some owners opt to keep the suppressor separate, planning to attach it in an emergency. Having practiced this under stress training, I can confidently say this is a poor strategy. Attempting to thread on a suppressor correctly during a high-adrenaline situation is asking for trouble, potentially resulting in misaligned mountings or wasted precious seconds.
Conclusion: Is It Worth It?
So, is a suppressor worth it for home defense? The answer, like most things in the defensive world, is: it depends on your specific situation.
If you have the budget, legal ability, and are willing to train extensively with your suppressed setup, the hearing protection and reduced flash benefits could provide meaningful advantages in a defensive scenario. The reduced report might also protect family members’ hearing, particularly children who are more susceptible to hearing damage.
For my personal setup, I’ve settled on a suppressed 300 Blackout pistol with subsonic ammunition as my primary home defense weapon. The shorter overall length (even with suppressor attached) addresses the maneuverability concerns, while the inherently subsonic ammunition maximizes the suppressor’s effectiveness. The trade-off is reduced terminal ballistics compared to supersonic rounds, but in my risk assessment for my particular living situation, this compromise makes sense.
Your calculus may differ based on your living arrangement, family situation, and local laws. The most important factor isn’t whether a suppressor is objectively “best” for home defense, but whether it’s best for your specific circumstances and whether you’re willing to train extensively with your setup until its operation becomes second nature.
If your narrowest hallway and doorway isn’t a minimum of 4 feet, hanging a can on an AR wouldn’t be recommended even if you practice deployment – unless you do it EVERY DAY, your proficiency goes outthe window when the boogyman comes calling. Or maybe you’ve got the coin for two permission slips plus the hardware, then by all means go for it. I was on a hunting shed a while ago where a buddy uncorked a .223 wearing a can before I got muffs on… I had ringing ears the rest of the afternoon. For sure, Maplewood NOT Hollywood.
It never ceases to amaze me how well TV police officers hear after an indoor shooting using unsuppressed firearms. My son tried an experiment, standing 15 yards behind an unsuppressed AR OUTside–he reported that it was still painfully loud. Handguns indoors will set your ears a ringing for a good long while, so yeah, suppressors are great. I’d own one if I could legally acquire one. But I don’t see any of the ban states changing their laws any time in the foreseeable future.
How do you respond to the anticipation than anything you use will be confiscated as evidence, and stored (without cleaning) indefinitely in a plastic bag, at least until the assailant / intruder has expended all their possible levels of appeal, and the defender / homeowner obtains a court order for the police to return their property?
That certainly sucks–and is the price that we pay for a society with justice system.
Live in a state that takes castle doctrine seriously. Most people who defend themselves against a home invader in such states (including lethally) are never charged, even in leftist DA counties.
How do you respond to the anticipation that using a suppressor will be like red meat for an overzealous anti-gun district attorney who’s eager to portray the defender / homeowner as premeditating and lying in wait for the poor disadvantaged assailant / intruder to visit?
BobS,
No matter what you do or don’t do, a zealous anti-gun district attorneys is going to portray anything and everything about you as a freak-show and a seething cauldron of rage who exploded at the slightest provocation.
You might as well position yourself to have the highest probability of successfully stopping a home-invader and let your defense attorney handle the rest.
Can you provide a link to such a prosecution that has occurred in real life?
How about running a suppressor on your home defense shotshell firearm?
By cutting choke threads in the barrel for the adapter, you could muffle a Shockwave or an AfterShock
Most home defense setups are just LARP. You shouldn’t use anything for home defense that will scare your local JBTs, prosecutors and judges, or the fudds and community organizers on the jury, and you also shouldn’t post what your setup is on the internet. Actual TEOTWAKI/bugout guns, expensive toys, and “normal” defensive weapons need to be kept separate, but that’s something everyone has to figure out for their own circumstances. In any case, you don’t want the PD to damage or “lose” your PVS22-equipped SG550 or your $6000 Cabot 1911.
I’ve used suppressed and no suppressors inside and out. A couple of rounds inside without a suppressor is not going to deafen you. Besides, you probably won’t register the muzzle report at the moment anyway. Just shoot the son of a bitch with what you have and be done with it.
Ultimately that is what will happen regardless. We can do everything we can think of to mitigate any issue but when shit happens it is whatever you can make happen in that moment and your ideal firearm may not be the closest one at hand.
There is another consideration: preserving your hearing for a safe response to law enforcement officers who arrive on scene. Remember, they have no idea what actually happened or is happening and they will need your prompt cooperation and coordination. Nothing would suck more than failing to hear a law enforcement officer telling you to drop your firearm resulting in said officer proceeding to shoot you.
Minimize any temporary or permanent hearing loss and get a suppressor for your home defense firearm.
Gadsden,
Yup. Agree!
Adrenaline is protective. More concerned about my wife and her already delicate condition. Teaching her to shoot and get used to the noise. She has a disturbingly strong startle reflex and delicate health. May need a supressor on my primary home defense weapons for her heart protection.
Me? You threaten my family and tour remains will be nothing but compost.
My opinion: the benefits of a suppressed home-defense firearm (of the close-quarters combat variety) far outweigh any drawbacks.
I believe the ideal close-quarters home-defense firearm is a “short-barreled” AR-15 rifle chambered in .300 AAC Blackout with a 10-inch barrel (or the nearest standard barrel length) and a suppressor–shooting sub-sonic ammunition. A close second would be a similar platform chambered in .45 ACP.
Just because I will have years of repressed options when I move and set such a thing up would likely end up with a SBR 458 (tossup on which type) AR with suppressor to really maximize that shorter barrel acceleration. Started with a 45-70 to guard the house may as well retire with the update.
I think a pistol on the beds head board or shotgun when I think home defense.
Rifles in my opinion are perimeter defenses.
I once was attacked whilst sleeping, a long gun would have been useless.
Xdduly elected official,
Why not have the best of both worlds? Have a handgun AND a “short barreled” rifle readily available for home-defense? And put a suppressor on both of them.
For reference a suppressor significantly reduces handgun sound levels as well, especially when your loading produces sub-sonic muzzle velocitities.
By the way, here is a little known fact that could be hugely beneficial if you cannot justify the cash outlay for two suppressors (one suppressor for a handgun and one suppressor for a “short-barreled” rifle): the long barrel of a pistol-caliber carbine (typically 16-inches long) significantly reduces the blast compared to shooting the very same cartridge out of a handgun with a 3-inch or 4-inch barrel.
Xdduly,
Clarification on my last comment, why pistol-caliber carbines are significantly less loud than the same caliber and cartridge in a 3-inch or 4-inch barrel:
When you shoot a firearm, the propellant burns and creates a large pressure inside the barrel which is what accelerates the bullet of course. When the bullet leaves the barrel, that large pressure pushes the combustion gases out at very high velocity. Those gases escaping at very high velocity is what causes the “blast”. Thus: higher pressure creates faster combustion gas velocity creates louder “blast”.
Now we can understand why a pistol-caliber carbine (with a 16-inch barrel) is significantly less loud than the same caliber / cartridge in a 3-inch or 4-inch barrel. When you shoot that pistol cartridge out of a 4-inch barrel, the pressure in the barrel when the bullet exits the muzzle is very high and thus the blast of the gunshot is very loud. When you shoot that same cartridge out of a 16-inch barrel, the pressure is MUCH lower and the resulting blast is significantly reduced.
Last detail: pistol cartridge propellants burn fast, typically burning completely such that the expanding combustion gases reach maximum pressure as the bullet arrives at the muzzle. Those same propellants in a long carbine barrel have finished burning when the bullet is 3 or 4 inches down the barrel and thus pressure starts to decrease as the bullet continues to move down the barrel. Finally, as the bullet exits the muzzle, internal pressure in the barrel is much lower than a 3-inch barrel which translates to the combustion gases exiting at lower velocity–which translates to less “blast”.
So, the end result is that the long barrel of a pistol caliber carbine reduces combustion gas pressure at the muzzle which reduces blast–which is exactly what suppressors do. Suppressors simply reduce blast even more than a relatively long barrel.
Yep, I’ve got all three, however waking up with someone’s hands around your throat really takes reaching for an SBR out of the equation.
OK, I run a MP5 with an obsidian 9 can as my bedside gun (Rural setting). I use HUSH 165gr 9mm ammo. It is about the same sound level as my suppressed .22. On a 16″ 9mm barrel, it is indeed Hollywood quiet. Actually, almost unbelievable how quiet it is. I understand it is only doing about 700 FPS, still plenty in a sub 50 yard HD scenario with 30 rounds on tap.
Don’t forget the price of a barrel, to upgrade to a suppressor. $175 +
My bedside gun is a Glock G21 (.45acp), with a WML. The threaded barrel and new can arrived not long ago, and I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with it.
Until then, I have a set of electronic muffs close at hand, that I hopefully could put on quickly. However, even though I’ve practiced putting them on, I’m not sure that doing so is realistic.
Hence, the can.