Silencer Saturday #352: Are Silencers In Common Use Now?

Welcome back to this week’s edition of Silencer Saturday. Last week we looked at a “DIY Lisle” carbine, an interesting second act for an Enfield rifle that had seen better days. This time we are going to look at the US legal and regulatory framework for silencers, and one potential argument for changing it.

Silencer Saturday @ TFB:

Silencer Saturday #351: The DIY De Lisle Silencer Saturday #350: New Direct Thread Gemtech Silencers Silencer Saturday #349: Angstadt Arms Prophet Integral Silencer Silencer Saturday #348: Suppressing The Uzi Silencer Saturday #347: The Silencer Central Banish 46-V2

Why Does Common Use Matter?

The landmark US Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller laid out a new framework for what guns are, and are not, protected from government regulation. Prior to the Heller decision in 2008, some legal scholars went so far as to say that the Second Amendment was not an individual right at all, and it only applied to guns used by a government militia. Heller reframed the issue and made it clear that gun ownership is an individual right, and that arms that are in common use cannot be banned. Any effort to ban “arms” (which is broader than just firearms, and includes necessary parts) must show that there was some sort of historical analog to the proposed new regulation.

However, Heller was not an unlimited protection for every type of weapon. That decision left room for bans against “dangerous and unusual” weapons, without saying what exactly those are. Heller has been used to dismantle restrictions like so-called assault weapon bans because those are in common use. Could the same be done with the National Firearms Act, particularly for silencers? Maybe. Back in 2008, when Heller was decided, it was pretty clear that NFA items were unusual. But is that still the case today?

How Many Silencers Are There?

This may be hard for our younger readers to imagine, but the prevalence of NFA items today was not at all the case in 2008. Back then, NFA items were something that very few shooters owned. Only a select handful of dealers even understood that silencers and short barrel rifles were legal, and even fewer were facilitating transfers. But then that started to change.

People realized that silencers were legal and that they were nice to have. As more shooters got a silencer or two, their friends had a chance to try out suppressed shooting and many of those shooters bought their own. The suppressor industry also stepped up its outreach efforts and helped even more people realize that, while silencers are heavily regulated in the US, they are not illegal.

While the ATF does not publish live numbers, we have some pretty good ideas as to how many silencers are in circulation. A public records request in January 2024 obtained data from the ATF showing 3,493,765 silencers in the federal registry. An ATF infographic from SHOT Show 2021 shows 2,148,825 silencers registered at that time. In just three years, the number of (legal) silencers jumped up 61.5 percent! If that trajectory continues it will be hard to argue that silencers are not common.

Three million silencers may sound like a lot, but is that enough to be common use? Maybe, maybe not. While there are no solid numbers, the top few search results put the number of American gun owners at 80-ish million. 3 million suppressors among those 80 million gun owners may not sound like a lot, but let’s compare it to one of the most common and ubiquitous guns: the 10/22. There are around 7 million 10/22s in circulation, and it is hard to find a gun owner unfamiliar with the 10/22. If the current rate of suppressor adoption continues, there will be as many cans as there are 10/22s in a couple of years. That sounds pretty common to me.

What Else Has Changed?

Numbers and percentages are only one way to explain whether silencers are common or not. Another way of answering the question is a more subjective, but still informative: What kind of people are using silencers now? In years past, the average suppressor owner was likely someone deeply involved with guns who had an extensive collection. These days, silencers are sold at big box retailers like Sportsman’s Warehouse, and many new suppressor buyers are at the more casual end of the spectrum.

A major part of that shift is suppressed hunting accessibility. 43 of 50 states now allow suppressors for hunting use. Back in 2011, that number was only 22. Even Texas, with its feral pig hunting and famous affinity for guns, did not allow hunting for all game until 2012.

Conclusion

In the years since the Heller decision, suppressors have become increasingly common. The number in circulation only continues to climb, and a majority of states allow residents to own silencers. Whether that reaches the threshold of “common use” is something a judge would have to decide, but it is a much easier argument to make today than it was in 2008. And if you are looking for a rationalization for buying another one, you can always say you are doing your part to make them more common.