Anti-Gun Media Plays Up Threat Of “Homemade Silencers”

By Cam Edwards

Does America really have a problem with “unregulated, homemade silencers”? According to a new article by the Michael Bloomberg-backed anti-gun website The Trace and the website The Verge, the answer is yes.

Silencers, otherwise known as suppressors, are among the most highly regulated gun accessories in the US. Under federal law, consumers must apply for a license to purchase them. The process involves paying a fee to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and submitting to extensive screening. It can take more than a year to get an answer. Americans eager to skip the wait, though, have a shortcut: tap one of the dozens of online retailers selling de facto suppressor parts and build their own.

What exactly are “de facto suppressor parts”? Basically, things that aren’t suppressors but could be used to make one. And as it turns out, trying to ban everything someone could use to build a homemade suppressor isn’t easy. In fact, it’s really not even possible.

Peter Tilem, a criminal defense attorney in New York with experience defending gun crimes cases, put it this way: “You can’t control people taking legitimate items and making them into something illegitimate. Sudafed is readily available; …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms