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.
