A CDC study recently found that a staggering 40 million American adults—including one-fourth of people 20-69—have lost some hearing because of noise. Even more noteworthy, 53 percent of those with hearing loss claimed to have no occupational exposure to excessive noise—a number which likely includes many shooters and hunters.
These numbers not only uncover a national epidemic—they also indicate that the deregulation of suppressors, as outlined in the Hearing Protection Act, should be regarded less as a matter of politics and more as an urgent matter of public health.
Given that noises of over 140 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss with hearing protection—and that an unsuppressed .223 rifle produces about 165 decibels—the use of suppressors (which reduce gunshot noise by 20-35 decibels) could, when combined with regular hearing protection, significantly reduce the longstanding prevalence of hearing loss in the shooting community.
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