Legislation to remove suppressors and silencers from National Firearms Act regulation and treat them as regular firearms has been filed in the new Congress.
The Hearing Protection Act would reclassify suppressors, currently NFA-controlled Title II firearms, as Title I, which would allow their transfer through regular federal firearms license holders to anyone not prohibited from possessing them after the buyer passes an FBI instant background check.
Bouncing around Congress for a decade in various forms, the current version was authored by U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, a Virginia Republican.
"Americans who enjoy hunting and target shooting should be able to do so safely and legally without facing burdensome government regulations," said Cline. "The Hearing Protection Act will reclassify suppressors, making it easier for law-abiding gun owners to protect their hearing while enjoying recreational activities. It’s time to ensure that our Second Amendment rights are upheld, allowing responsible citizens to enjoy their freedoms without unnecessary obstacles.
Suppressors, once rare, have become extremely popular and common. The most current data, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, found 4,857,897 NFA-compliant suppressors were in circulation as of June 2024, a jump of 82 percent from the 2021 figure. By comparison, in 2015 when the HPA was first introduced, only about 900,000 were on the books.
Suppressor advocates welcomed the news that the HPA has been rebooted.
"The Hearing Protection Act is the epitome of commonsense legislation," Knox Williams, president of the American Suppressor Association, told Guns.com. "Law-abiding citizens should not have to pay a tax to protect their hearing when they exercise their Second Amendment rights."
The bill has more than 40 co-sponsors at its introduction and is supported by the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Rifle Association, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Banner image: Beretta PMXs 9mm with a SilencerCo Omega 36M modular multi-caliber suppressor. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
