With Vermont, Minnesota and Iowa joining 39 other states in allowing the possession of firearm suppressors—often erroneously called “silencers,” most notably by the federal agency that regulates their possession—in the past year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has seen a large increase in the number of such devices registered with that federal agency, Shooting Illustrated reports.
Data released by the ATF last week in the 2016 edition of its Firearms Commerce in the United States Annual Statistical Update show that the number of “silencers” registered with the federal government, as of February 2016, was 902,805. This represents an increase of nearly 83 percent over the 494,452 such devices that were registered as of April 2013.
Suppressors are far more regulated in the United States than in Europe, especially Scandinavia, where their use is common, unquestioned and considered a common courtesy—like a muffler on a motor vehicle—among hunters.
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