texas considering 'sound suppressors' on hunting rifles

[Dacotua]

The only reason I DO NOT want suppressors to be legal in hunting is the NFA Division of the ATF has said it could double the approval process from 6 months to over a year.

Now if the ATF hired a lot of reviewers and cut down the process time, I would be ok with it.

I just dont want to wait over a year for a machinegun because of a bunch of suppressors

[Pewter Y2K Z28]

I have no issue with it.

[Chopped54]

Sounds like neither the attny nor the game wardens are familiar with suppressors.
And to think that owning a suppressor would turn a law abiding citizen capable of passing the background check for a NFA item into a criminal poacher is just fucking retarded.

And if/when it passes I will get a 7.62 supressor to hunt with.

[dee]

The attorney they quoted is a dumbass that represents people who obviously shouldn't be handling weapons if they are the type that apparently shoot without knowing their surroundings.

[Nash B.]

The devices look like silencers, but act more like mufflers on a car.

I'm so confused.

[4bangen]

If it’s still as loud as a fire cracker, I don't see it as a safety issue, though I wouldn't want them to make them mandatory. Let the hunter decide.

[grove rat]

hopefully this is not a repost, my bad if so. also added a poll to see what you guys think. i personally am for it since i only hunt on private land

[grove rat]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/Texas-considering-sound-suppressors-on-hunting-rifles-142577465.html

DALLAS - A quarter century of hunting big game has taken its toll on Brad Cooksey.

"I know from 25 years of using guns, I have a constant ringing in my ears right now," he said.

He has hunted across the country, and even as far away as inside the Arctic Circle in Alaska.

Cooksey said he has no plans of giving up the sport, because wild game is all his family eats.

"I have not bought any red meat at the store in two years," said Lisa Cooksey, Brad's wife. "We eat all wild game."

That's why Cooksey supports a proposal by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to permit sound suppressors on the end of rifles.

The devices look like silencers, but act more like mufflers on a car.

"It would cut the sound down and make it where people wouldn't jump as they're pulling the trigger," Cooksey said.

News 8 took a noise meter to a gun range to measure the sound of a rifle firing.

The AR-15 used for the experiment recorded 110 decibels when fired without the suppressor. That's about the same noise level as a siren on a fire engine.

When a suppressor was added to the end of the rifle barrel at the indoor gun range, the noise meter recorded a level of 105 decibels.

Experts said that's because the test happened inside a room allowing the noise to echo. If the experiment were conducted outside, experts explained, the suppressor is supposed to make the weapon considerably quieter - similar to that of a firecracker.

But the state proposal has put safety in the crosshairs.

"This is not a gun control issue," said Jeff Hightower, a Dallas attorney who has represented victims of hunting accidents.

Suppressors are unnecessary and unsafe, he added.

"If you can't hear other hunters and don't know they are on property, near your hunting area, you certainly have greater risk of a hunting accident," Hightower said.

State game wardens have even expressed concern that sound suppressors on rifles could increase poaching.

Still, most expect the state to approve the devices at the end of the month, which is a decision Cooksey believes will only help hunters preserve their hearing.