The Minnesota Senate is poised to agree with the House and send a measure to Gov. Mark Dayton that would remove a ban on suppressors.
However, Dayton is turning a deaf ear to his own party, claiming, “To allow gunshots to be silenced increases the danger to law enforcement officers, and to innocent bystanders.”
That’s hogwash. Among the 39 states that have already legalized suppressors, there is no evidence that criminals are adopting them. Suppressors (which Dayton wrongly calls “silencers”) don’t silence gunshots, and they can double the length of a handgun, making it less concealable. In addition, they are expensive, and require an additional background check and a federal tax stamp—all of which currently take six months or longer.
There are, however, innocent bystanders being harmed—the tens of thousands of Minnesota hunters who suffer hearing damage from their sport. But Dayton seems deaf to them, too.
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