“The positive ramifications of the National Hearing Conservation Association’s letter of support for suppressors cannot be understated,” said Knox Williams, President and Executive Director of the American Suppressor Association. “We commend NHCA for being the first national medical association to take a fact-based position in the suppressor debate. In doing so, NHCA has affirmatively put to bed the false assertion that suppressors and suppressor related advocacy are not about hearing safety.”

The report illustrates the important role that suppressors have in reducing hearing loss associated with the use of firearms. It also endorses the Hearing Protection Act (2019), which would greatly simplify the antiquated system to acquire suppressors by using the same background check system already in place for firearms purchases.

The NHCA is an independent organization whose mission is “to prevent hearing loss due to noise and other environmental factors in all sectors of society.”

Politicians and special interest groups have often wrongly portrayed suppressors as having the ability to make firearms nearly silent or as more effective than earplugs. Others have even introduced legislation to ban suppressors entirely, citing the “great danger” they pose.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is that a suppressor simply helps to lower the decibel level, but doesn’t “eliminate the sound entirely and, and has no effect on the mini sonic boom created by a bullet moving faster than the speed of sound.” By no means does a suppressor remove the need for hearing protection when in use.

Since 2005, the NRA has been lobbying for legislation—such as the Hearing Protection Act—to change the process of obtaining a suppressor.

Article by Garrett O’Leary

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