When people think about buying their first silencer, there’s some natural hesitation. Silencers are expensive, the paperwork is a pain in the ass, and it takes forever for the ATF to approve anything. It seems like a lot of hassle for something that doesn’t provide a lot of benefits. Until you use one for the first time, that is . . .

Many of the people at the Silencers Are Legal shoot were already silencer owners, but there were a couple who had never fired a silenced gun before. You could tell which ones they were instantly. They picked up the gun, fired their first round, and then giggled.

I did it the first time, too. There’s just something about firing a suppressed firearm that makes it more fun, even if the people around you are still “going loud.” It could be the reduced recoil or just the novelty of making less noise than usual, but everything about guns seems better with silencers.

It’s hard to describe to someone who has never fired anything with a silencer, but those who have know exactly what I’m talking about. Once you have your giggle moment, you’re hooked. And no matter how much of a pain in the ass it is you feel the need to buy one for yourself.

Rationalize it all you want, telling your non-firearms-loving spouse that you need it for “hunting” or “hearing protection.” But we all know the real reason you’re getting the stamp. You want that giggle factor every time you go to the range. And I can’t blame you one bit.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. I have often wondered whether I would run a silencer for home defense. Of Coures there is the benefit of Hearing protection, but maybe there may be some benefit to having an intruder know he is being shot at.

    I have not shot a gun fitted with a silencer but I plan to do so in the near future. Looking forward to that giggle factor.

    • I think suppressors for home defense make a lot of sense…It will suppress the flash and also some of the sound…A person would still know they’re being shot at..But it would burst your eardrums or blind you if you had to use it in a self defense situation 🙂

    • Reason to have a silencer for HD:
      So when you blow the brains out of the guy who just woke you, his buddy is less likely to recognize it as a gunshot and is thus less likely to kill your spouse/kids/other relatives/friends/dog.

      • Oh no. Trust me, anything above a .22LR and the badguy, and everyone else in the house/apartment (almost the complex), will know that a trigger was just pulled. The sound of a 9mm, even the “subsonic” 147gr jobbies, through even the best of suppressors, indoors, is enough to not only still make your ears “ring”, but you’ll wish you put in plugs first. Add in the adrinalin of being scared, and it’s not too bad, but still pretty loud. You’ll wake the whole house on the first shot. If you miss the bad guy it’s still exceptionally clear that he’s being shot at – so just as unsuppressed, the name of the game is “Don’t Miss”. The only truly “Hollywood” quiet suppressors in existance are for .22LR and .17, or some of the high-end pellet & paintball guns. However, even those suppressors, in-doors, can be uncomfortable to shoot. The only other exception to this rule (that I’ve heard) are integrals. Integral .22’s are SCARY quiet, so are many of the higher end “cans”. But as always, YMMV.

  2. I must escape this state! ihateNY
    Everything fun in firearms is illegal.
    Any free state have a need for 2 Paramedics with urban/Suburban/and Rural Experience?

    • Come on to Arkansas!!!! Gun friendly, silencers are legal, just a short hop to the silencer shoot in west Memphis every year and we really could use more rural EMT’s!!!!!

    • You’re welcome in Georgia! I live in the Augusta area, and cost of living is DIRT, DIRT, DIRT cheap!

  4. It’s true. To be honest, I find the giggle factor higher for silencers than for full autos. (Of course, silenced full auto is the best of all worlds.) But from the first time I fired a silencer, my response was, “I gotta’ get me one of these.” Firing a full auto the first time made me think, “That was a thrill. But how much money did I just burn there?” Part of it is that silencers are practical for all kinds of shooting. There’s just no situation where a quieter gun with less recoil isn’t more fun.

    • I understand what you’re saying about the dollar factor in firing full auto, but come on: there is nothing so All-American as going rock ‘n roll.

      • I dunno, full-auto is a great way to turn money into noise. If you take away the noise, what’s the point?

      • Oh, there are some guns where shot placement on full auto is no problem. Of course, I’m not going to mention which ones those are, ’cause there’s only so many pre-’86 samples, and I don’t need competition driving the price up. 😉

    • That’s why full auto is best done on the taxpayer’s dime.

      Having expended tens of thousands of rounds like that, now I’m looking for new cool things. Unfortunately, not a silencer in CT.

  5. Hollywood has permanently ruined the reputation for silencers. Even where they are still legal, you have to jump through hoops and pay a tax to own one.

    In these states:

    California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island

    when you shoot a gun with a silencer, a baby dies. The silencer automatically converts regular bullets that fly straight into baby-homing bullets. Think of the children! (sarc)

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