Comment by yesfitz
1 year ago
Suppressors are not equally easy to legally procure!
Suppressors/Silencers are federally regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) and are treated similarly to machine guns and sawed-off shotguns (the import/manufacture of those are further regulated by later legislation).
From Wikipedia[1]: Private owners wishing to purchase an NFA item must obtain approval from the ATF, pass an extensive background check to include submitting a photograph and fingerprints, fully register the firearm, receive ATF written permission before moving the firearm across state lines, and pay a tax.
And I think you may have understated the ease of manufacturing. Especially if someone only needs to use it once and don't care about the legality.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Act#Registra...
Availability examples:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/illegal-gun-silencers-c...
https://www.ice.gov/doclib/eoy/iceAnnualReportFY2021.pdf
https://www.recoilweb.com/man-makes-silencer-with-3d-printer...
https://youtu.be/ekDs60QxmNE
The key word here that doesn't apply to any of these links: legally
To be clear, and reiterate, I stated "easy" in my top comment, not legally. "Legally" is irrelevant if you’re a motivated threat actor. Laws are there to dissuade the lazy or unsophisticated, and to prosecute those caught. ~50% of murders go unsolved in the US [1]. Firearms are heavily regulated in NYC, and yet, there are hundreds of deaths per year from them. Therefore, I believe availability (regardless of legality) is an important data point to surface as part of the discussion.
[1] https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172775448/people-murder-unso...
(these stats are grim, I admit, but important to contextualize my perspective and thesis about the risk)
Murder is also not legal. Obviously legality of actions is not a key factor in decision making here