NRA advises sober thoughts on Hearing Protection Act (VIDEO)

With bills in both chambers of Congress to deregulate suppressors from National Firearms Act restrictions, the nation’s largest gun rights group warns action in the first 100 days is unlikely.

NRATV anchor Grant Stinchfield cautioned about the “unintended consequence” of the Hearing Protection Act— that customers are waiting it out and not pulling the trigger on planned suppressor purchases.

“Sales have all but dried up, which means some firms have been forced to lay off workers,” said Stinchfield in the above video before explaining the bill contains language that allows for refunds of the $200 tax stamps for those who bought silencers since the legislation was submitted.

“Since the bill will most likely not go through in the first 100 days, it’s imperative those in the market for suppressors go through with their plans of purchasing before many of these manufacturers are forced to go out of business,” he says.

Recently suppressor giant SilencerCo was forced into “right sizing for current industry conditions” after eight years of steady growth.

While the measure has over 100 Congressmen signed on as co-sponsors in the House, its passage may come down to a numbers game in the Senate where Republicans have a more narrow majority.

Ron Martinez, the CEO of Gemtech and an American Suppressor Association board member, told AR15news.com that passage of the HPA may go well past the first 10o days.  He feels the proposal will be a mid-term election issue in the Senate where 60 votes are needed to pass and there are 10 red states that went Trump but have Democrat senators up for re-election next year.

“You have to understand the process in Washington DC,” said Martinez. “I met with Idaho Senator Crapo’s office, who is sponsoring the HPA bill in the Senate. It will take a while as I have said before. The bill sits now in the Senate Finance Committee trying to get to a hearing meeting. The process is long and will take until the end of 2018 at best.”