Growing up in Upstate New York, it should come as no surprise that for a significant portion of my life, I was not exposed to the numerous positive benefits that firearm suppressors offer hunters and recreational shooters. The only exposure I can claim during that time was when I would watch James Bond and other Hollywood heroes (or anti-heroes) screw on a can before engaging in often nefarious affairs. The resulting shot is typically portrayed as either completely silent or very near to it, and the lasting impression from such limited exposure was the inevitably narrow view that suppressors are tools of assassins and there is no practical application for today’s sportsmen and women.

However, suppressors don’t come close to completely silencing a firearm – just as a car muffler does not completely silence the sound of an engine. Firearm suppressors work in the exact same way as car mufflers do (and were invented by the same person) – by trapping rapidly expanding gases and allowing them to cool more slowly.

While working on state policy for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), my eyes were finally opened to the reality of suppressors when I started collaborating with the American Suppressor Association (ASA). Through ASA-hosted hands-on field demonstrations on the range and afield, I quickly discovered how different suppressors are from what I had been programmed to believe about the technology. Once discovered, I immersed myself into firearm suppressor policy and I, and my colleagues at CSF, began working with ASA to overturn suppressor ownership bans and to authorize their use for hunting in states across the nation.

About the Technology

In short, Hollywood hasn’t done any of us in the policy world who are working to normalize the use of this hearing-protective technology any favors. Even the most effective suppressors on the smallest calibers, like .22 LR, reduce the peak sound level of a gunshot to around 110-120 decibels (dB). To put that in perspective, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), that is as loud as a jackhammer (110 dB) or an ambulance siren (120 dB).

When considering hunting caliber firearms, which average between 155-185 dB unsuppressed, the best suppressors on the market reduce the peak sound level to around 130-150 dB. While this is a tremendous reduction in noise level, it is still as loud as a jet engine at takeoff (140 dB) – far from silent. Most quality suppressors on the market today will lower the sound signature of a gunshot by 20-35dB depending on a suite of conditions. This offers recreational shooters and hunters approximately the same level of hearing protection as quality earmuffs.

Application for Hunting

Unfortunately, most hunters (myself included until relatively recently) do not wear hearing protection to maintain their situational awareness. Recent research shows that between 70 and 80% of hunters never wear earplugs or earmuffs. This means that every time most hunters fire a shot, they are risking permanent and irreversible damage to their hearing. There’s a reason why nearly all the members of my local fish and game club who are of retirement age wear hearing aids. Today, I now use a set of ear plugs that allow me to hear everything as I normally would (and in stereo to maintain situational awareness) but provide sound protection when an exceedingly loud noise, such as a gunshot, is detected. After a visit to my audiologist several years ago confirmed the beginnings of “shooter’s ear”, I now use these plugs even when using a suppressor (in the same way that I would typically double-up plugs and muffs on a firing range).

Beyond the obvious hearing protection benefits, suppressors also minimize felt recoil, increase accuracy, and quickly become a favored accessory of sportsmen and women nationwide. Recent data shows suppressors generally reduce felt recoil by 21-37% depending on various variables, including baffle design and overall length. Anecdotally, my impression of the recoil reduction is that a suppressed .308 WIN is roughly equivalent on the shoulder to an unsuppressed .243 WIN, and a suppressed .300 PRC feels more like an unsuppressed .308 WIN.

The combination of the reduced sound signature and felt recoil makes many types of hunting more accessible for youth and smaller framed shooters. Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation (R3) of hunters and recreational shooters has been a key focal area for the sporting conservation community for many years. When the Baby Boomer generation ages out of hunting and shooting (already occurring, but the drop-out rate will ramp up significantly in the next 5-10 years), our American System of Conservation Funding, on which state agencies rely to put good conversation on the ground, will take a serious hit. By normalizing suppressor use in entryways to hunting – including formalized programs run by conservation organizations and state fish and wildlife agencies – we can provide a more positive experience for prospective participants and increase the likelihood they will return to try it again. I’m very interested in suppressor use as I look toward the future and envision days in the field with my young children.

Addressing the Opposition

Opponents of suppressor use for hunting often claim that their use will increase poaching incidents. This position is based mainly on the misconception that suppressors completely silence firearms. Hopefully, this argument has already been sufficiently dismantled above, but if not, I’ll offer my testimonial. Many years ago, on one of my first suppressed hunts, I went to Georgia for a night vision hunt for feral hogs. All 15 or so hunters on this trip used suppressed rifles in chamberings, including .223 Rem./5.56 NATO, 6.8 SPC, .300 BLK, and.308 WIN. While hunting I could hear shots ring out from all corners of the 7,600-acre property we were hunting, and it became immediately apparent that the same “Hollywood myth” I fell victim to in my youth is driving these misplaced poaching concerns as well. In reality, states that have recently legalized their use have seen no increase in poaching.

We also hear concerns that if suppressors are more widely available and used, it will make it harder for law enforcement to respond to a crisis, and the crime rate will increase. However, as more and more states have expanded their use, this has yet to be born out. We have not seen a correlating spike in crimes committed with a suppressor. Allowing law-abiding hunters to utilize suppressors afield has in no way jeopardized public safety in the 41 states that currently allow their hunters to protect their hearing with suppressors.

For further evidence of the fallacy of these claims, we can also look abroad to many nations where suppressor use is normalized and even encouraged, despite some of those same nations having extreme regulations, permitting systems, and registries for firearm ownership generally. In some instances, suppressors are even available for purchase over the counter, including in hardware stores. Mark Peterson, Owner of Worldwide Trophy Adventures & Host of The Journey Within, confirms this dichotomy: "As I travel the world filming and hunting, I am blown away by just how commonly suppressors are used for hunting and shooting compared to here in the US. Over the last year, I have spent a great deal of time in Europe and New Zealand. I did not see a rifle in the field that wasn’t suppressed in both areas. Their systems made it easy for hunters and shooters alike to purchase and use them. This was very refreshing for me to experience, knowing the long and tedious process it is in the US for hunters and shooters to obtain a suppressor. I’m hoping one day it will be as easy for us as it is for other countries.”

Looking Towards the Future

Unfortunately, despite making significant strides on suppressor policy in recent years (three new states have authorized ownership, and 19 additional states now allow suppressors for hunting), nine states still do not allow you to use them while hunting, and eight states where ownership is prohibited. These remaining states are politically challenging for this particular issue, including CA, DE, HI, IL, MA, NJ, NY, and RI, while CT allows for ownership but not hunting. CSF will continue to work alongside the American Suppressor Association and our other partners in the years ahead to continue whittling away at the remaining prohibitions. However, the wheels of progress in the legislative arenas in the remaining states will turn slowly. It is an incremental effort where you hope to educate more elected officials year after year to help them understand the reality of suppressors versus the myths and misconceptions many still understandably cling to since they’ve had no other exposure than the “Hollywood myth”.

A promising development in the state-level fight over suppressor ownership is the lawsuit that the 501-C-3 ASA Foundation filed earlier this year in Illinois. The suit essentially argues that under the 2022 Bruen ruling, a ban on suppressor use is unconstitutional. Knox Williams, President and CEO of ASA stated, “The standard of review laid out by the Supreme Court in its Bruen decision last summer requires Illinois to justify its ban on suppressor ownership by showing that the ban is consistent with ‘the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.’ Since there has never been a nationwide ban on suppressor ownership and suppressors are neither dangerous nor unusual, we are confident that Illinois will not be able to justify its ban to the court.”

Should this lawsuit prove successful, it would establish legal precedent on the constitutionality of suppressor ownership and use. It could open the door for additional legal challenges in the other states where ownership is prohibited. Although backed by the ASA-Foundation and Silencer Shop, lawsuits are expensive, and fundraising for legal costs is ongoing. If you want to get involved and support this effort in Illinois (which could have nationwide implications), please visit www.suppressor.org. To keep up to speed on legislative efforts across the nation (including pushing back against the ill-conceived efforts to ban suppressor use we’ve seen popping up in a few states where they are presently authorized, I invite you to visit www.congressionalsportsmen.org and sign up for our free, weekly e-publication, The Sportsmen’s Voice.

With the numerous positive benefits this technology provides for sportsmen and women and no negative attributes to speak of, it is high time all hunters and shooters are afforded the opportunity to protect their hearing as they choose.

Brent joined the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) in the fall of 2010, then spent over a decade managing CSF’s state-level work in the northeast region – supporting regional sportsmen’s caucuses and members, significantly expanding pro-sportsmen infrastructure, directly engaging in the policy process in support of hunting, angling, recreational shooting, and trapping; and supervising and mentoring others in the same. During this time, Brent also served as the organization’s lead for firearm, knife, and deer management issues at both the state and federal levels while providing a wide range of administrative support services for the States Program Team (SPT) – which ultimately saw him leading the SPT as Senior Director in 2022. Now as Vice President, Policy, Brent continues to serve as the head of CSF’s state-level engagement nationwide and leads a team of 10 regional staff in support of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses, the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus, the Collegiate Sportsmen and Women’s Coalition, and their members. Brent has been trained at Harvard Kennedy School in Nonprofit Leadership, which included focal areas in organizational leadership and management, strategic planning, financial stewardship, marketing, and development. Prior education includes a Master of Science in Environmental Policy, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a Criminology concentration, two Associate of Science degrees in Criminal Justice and Individual studies, and a Professional Development Certificate from The Wildlife Society. Brent currently serves as a Board Member of the American Suppressor Association Foundation and previously served as Secretary of the New York Sportsmen’s Advisory Council, an inaugural Member of the Maryland Sportsmen’s Marketing Initiative, and a National Wildlife Services Advisory Council member under two Administrations.

2023-2024 Voice of Leadership Panelists