Can you use a suppressor with a concealed/car gun?

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dakota.potts

New member
I was just reading a thread about shooting without hearing protection and the kind of damage it can do in an emergency situation. I found myself wondering if you can carry a concealed weapon with a suppressor (that is, if you could manage to conceal it) or on one that you keep in your car to protect your hearing and the hearing of those around you.

My question isn't necessarily if it would be practical, just legal.
 
I can't speak for states outside Ohio. In Oh there are no laws saying you can't.

My question isn't necessarily if it would be practical, just legal.
Click to expand...

I will now go on a rant fueled by much to much coffee.

My P226 with the Trident9 on it is about as long as my forearm. Not concealable at all. I have seen some of those micro 9mm cans like the Nano. They add enough length that a Glock 26 becomes longer than a 17 Long slide.

HOWEVER one must remember that sometimes a defensive shooting can land the shooter in court, be that criminal or civil. With that in mind, remember that 99.5% of the population still think that silencers are only for assassins. Your muzzle mounted hearing protection could land you in hot water.

The "can I use my NFA weapon for defense" question has come up a million times before this. It has been beaten to death on the internets.

PLEASE don't drag the "castle doctrine" in to this. It is not a iron clad guarantee that you can shoot someone and get away with it.
PLEASE don't pull out that tired old "judged by twelve carried by six" line. You may have a conversation that goes something like
(prosecutor)"Why did you have a suppressor mounted on your pistol?"
(you)"I wanted to protect my hearing."
(prosecutor)"So, you are telling the ladies and gentlemen of the jury that when you left your house that morning, you so fully expected that you would be shooting someone that day, you brought along hearing protection? You brought along with your loaded handgun a device designed to muffle and conceal the report of a gunshot. The prosecution rests, Your Honor."

Now don't get me wrong, if someone were to kick in my back door right now they would be met by my suppressed 9mm. That said, I won't be carrying it as my primary defensive arm when I go out into the world.

rant off.
 
I had the same thought as to what it would look like if used for self defense for that reason. I figured the whole machine pistol thing had been considered but I wasn't sure about the use of suppressors.
 
the use of a suppressor or full auto firearm in a defensive shooting being a factor is likely just as over blown as the use of hand loaded ammunition or customized trigger pulls. If it's a good shoot the tools involved are irrelevant; if its a bad shoot, then you're up the creek anyways.
 
I would rather deal with using a full-auto machine gun for SD than a suppressor. At least there is some precedent where full-auto was used and the shooting was justifiable. See Beckwith Incident.
 
This whole "a good shoot is a good shoot" business is hogwash. The reality of a SD shooting is that "a good shoot may be a good shoot, or it may be a good shoot after the police, the prosecuting attorney, the judge, and a jury, or maybe several, decide that it is a good shoot." If one doesn't take possible jury perception into account, then one has looked at an imcomplete picture of the legal landscape.

With that said, I am unaware of any law in my State (Arkansas) that would prohibit me from using a suppressor in a car gun. I do not know what the laws of the OPs State say on the matter, though. I also must admit to not having researched the laws on the federal level, but I'm unaware of any federal law that would prohibit concealing or carrying in a vehicle a suppressed firearm, presuming that all of the legal niceties (tax stamp, etc) are met.

OP, take a look at your own State laws or consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction and familiar with NFA laws. Those are your best options. Consulting a bunch of well-meaning, but ultimately unlicensed, individuals whose credentials and knowledge you really cannot verify is not the best move in light of the possible penalties that could be involved.
 
Spats, thanks for the advice, but I was just looking for an answer for kicks rather than legal advice. I'm 3 years from being able to own a suppressor legally anyways and if I decided to keep one on a weapon for self defense I'd do the research necessary. Prison doesn't sound like a fun place.
 
Getting a heads-up for kicks is fine, especially if you start the research well in advance, as you have. Just don't rely on us to know the particulars of your state law, especially if we don't know your state. ;)
 
Silencers (suppressors if you must) were regulated under the NFA in the first place because Congress was convinced they were ""sneaky" and not in the image of good, clean living Americans, only of dirty foreign assassins. (Yes, those terms were used in the debates.)

Those ideas and images still remain and can still be used to influence a jury. I agree that the "good shoot" business is nonsense. We are no longer in the Wild West (if such existed outside "dime novels"). Anyone who kills or seriously injures another person, even in his own home, is not going to be congratulated and stood to drinks by the local sheriff. NOT going to happen, so get over that idea fast.

Jim
 
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