Lawmaker Moves to Outlaw Suppressors, Authorize ‘Buy Back’

By Chris Eger

First marketed 110-years ago, some 1.5 million legal firearm suppressors are in current circulation in the U.S. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
A New Jersey Democrat plans to introduce a bill to the U.S. Senate that would largely ban legal suppressors nationwide and use taxpayer money to reimburse owners.
Sen. Bob Menendez last week announced his plan to introduce what he terms the Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act when Congress goes back to work on Monday. His bill would reportedly provide some narrow exceptions for “certain current and former law enforcement personnel” and others while outlawing the more than 1 million currently legal suppressors in the country.
“Silencers undermine public safety. They undermine the ability of law enforcement to do their jobs. And they undermine the ability of Americans in the midst of mass shootings to survive,” Menendez said. “No one needs a silencer to defend themselves or their home, but everyone needs to be able to hear when their lives are in danger, and that’s exactly what the HEAR Act will do.”
First introduced commercially in 1909 by muffler inventor Hiram Percy Maxim and dubbed a “Silencer” as a marketing gimmick, suppressors designed for use in moderating the noise of a firearm’s muzzle

Source: Guns.com