Gabby Giffords’ group, Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS), decided to weigh in on suppressors and the Hearing Protection Act. They did so with a tweet reading “FACT: Silencers do not protect your hearing.” The post was accompanied by a graphic stating that the Hearing Protection Act does nothing to protect hearing. Instead, it “makes it easier for active shooters to inflict serious harm … without being detected.”
To sum up: They DON’T suppress sound enough to protect your hearing, but they DO suppress sound enough to allow criminals to shoot at will without being caught. Got it.
The truth is that despite the Hollywood myth, “silencers” or suppressors do not make guns silent, they simply reduce sound. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) determined that a decibel level greater than 140 can cause permanent hearing loss. Suppressors can lower the sound to slightly below that detrimental level, but even someone firing a suppressed gun should still wear hearing protection.
REAL FACT: Any group advocating for “responsible solutions” should be more responsible about fact-checking before tweeting.
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