In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), along with its partners, helps set the record straight regarding the removal of suppressors and short-barreled firearms from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

The letter reminds leadership that if removed from the NFA, suppressors and short-barreled firearms would still be considered firearms under the Gun Control Act for purposes of manufacture, sale and purchase. In short, purchasers would still be required to pass a background check just like when buying any other firearm from a Federal Firearms Licensee.

“The removal of silencers and short-barreled firearms from the National Firearms Act would allow peaceable citizens across the nation to exercise their full Second Amendment rights without the hindrance of an unconstitutional tax and waiting times,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “The name silencer is a bit of a misnomer because they merely lower the decibel level to a safer threshold but don’t eliminate the noise. Studies have shown that combining hearing protection along with a silencer when shooting significantly reduces the risk of hearing loss, making for a safer experience.”

As noted in the letter: “…the [National Hearing Conservation Association] and the Academy of Doctors of Audiology support the removal of the tax on suppressors as a method to improve access to these hearing safety devices.”

“The rhetoric from anti-Second Amendment activists regarding removing suppressors and short-barreled firearms from the NFA should come as no surprise,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “SAF has been fighting these same idealogues for more than 50 years, but our position is the same now as it was when the organization was founded – to defend, secure and restore the Second Amendment freedoms for all Americans.”

For more information, visit SAF.org.

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.