Silencers for Air Guns-Are they Legal??

[tatera]

Production Noise Reduction

Here is a review of Gamo's air rifle having an integrated silencer.

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=4092&mid=28077#M28077

They described the difference with super sonic pellets like going from a .22 long to a .22 short. With regular pellets, it doesn't seem to offer much reduction.

This would seem to be insuffient for urban or even suburban target shooting. If you shoot something that sounds like a .22 in close quarters, it seems like you should expect a visit from the police.

Nonetheless - it does demonstrate a flexibility by the BATF in regards to the employ of silencer techonology on air rifles. It is absolutely legal to suppress an air rifle. The trick is getting to that point without having a silencer detached from the rifle itself. A slippery legal slope.

 

[barnetmill]

Has anyone ever asked the ATF if possession of a small gasoline engine with a detachable muffler is a firearms violation? Some of these could be slipped over the muzzle of a .22 rifle and I am sure that the decibel level would be reduced by at least one db.

In England engine mufflers are called silencers.

I have read the Beeman article and under no conditions would I construct my own air gun silencer without a BATFE letter of approval. $200 hundred dollars is a lot cheaper than paying the cost of a trial and getting convicted. I would buy a legally imported airgun with a silencer if the ATF has approved it with a letter as they do for the sale of "assault weapons".