The proper term is 'Silencer', not 'Suppressor'

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Just out of curiosity, what is it called in the European counties where they are required for hunting?

Serious question, I don't know the answer....

Translations can be tricky, and a word can often be translated into several different English words. It wouldn't surprise me if the usual translation calls them (gasp) "silencers".:D
 
How does using the proper legal terminology damage legislative efforts?
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The same way referring to a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine and two offending cosmetic features as an assault rifle does.

If they could do it the opposition would legally change firearm to "innocent teen killer"
 
There's nothing wrong with trying to change the tone of any debate, whether personal, cultural, legal, or political, by using different terms that serve the speaker.

But the issue that Lark and I bring up is that the same guys who lecture people on using the word 'suppressor' because it's misleading or legislatively damaging are usually the same right wing or conservative guys who roll their eyes and get all huffy when other people apply the same tactic. When other people do it, it's deemed to be 'political correctness gone amuck'. These same guys at the gun shop who so adamantly insist that it's a 'suppressor', not a 'silencer', are the same guys who criticize other people for wanting to use terms like African-American or any hyphenated American, or Physically challenged instead of Handicapped, etc.

I just like the term silencer because it annoys the huffy guys at the gun store.
 
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Just out of curiosity, what is it called in the European counties where they are required for hunting?
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Lyddempere [muffler] in Norse.

Lyddæmper [silencer] in Danish.

So, um...yeah. That doesn't really settle it, does it? :)
 
I like to use the old terms.
The inventor called them silencers, that is fine with me. Do you know that the Maxim Silencer Co. is still in business, tracing their history back to ol' Hiram himself? They make large industrial mufflers now.

The inventor called it a repeating pistol even though the Internet Generation gets hot over a supposed distinction between revolvers and pistols.

The inventor, the manufacturer, and the using service called it an automatic pistol, even though we are now told that only semiautomatic is correct.
 
The same way referring to a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine and two offending cosmetic features as an assault rifle does
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You fell into the trap there. What you describe is legally (in some states) and WAS legally in Federal law an "Assault Weapon", not an "assault rifle" even if it is a rifle being described.

The similarity between the terms is deliberate, and was chosen by the antis for just that reason.

Assault Rifle had a commonly accepted definition in the firearms community long before it became a political football. And, under US law, assault rifles are machine guns.

When nutjobs were shooting up schools or workplaces (and then killing themselves) in the late 80s and early 90s, the press screamed "He used an assault rifle!" We answered back, "No, he didn't. It was just a semiautomatic rifle". Then the press screamed "He used a semiautomatic assault rifle!"

This proved to be too cumbersome a sound byte, and it soon became "Assault Weapon" (referring ONLY to semi autos with certain listed cosmetic features), no matter if they were rifles, handguns, or shotguns.

Call it a silencer, I'm ok with that, like I'm ok with Kleenex, Jello or other brand names that have become generic terms. And that is how it is named in law.

Call it a suppressor, because that is what it actually does.

but don't bother me with arguments over which one is "right", as dependent on your point of view (or maybe context) they both are.
 
I used to be a huge "it's a suppressor, not a silencer" guy. But that mindset came because I'm also an avid gamer and the kids on there talking about silencers and how rat-whisper quiet they were really annoyed me.

Nowadays, I figure it's not worth getting worked up over either way. I was actually a bit surprised to learn the actual documented legal term was "silencer".

Anyway, I personally think suppressor sounds cooler, but that again could be my jaded image from the 13 year old Call of Duty kids who learned all they know about guns from video games... Don't get me wrong, I LOVE video games, but come on--it's a game, not a weapons manual.

Although, if I had a hot girlfriend who preferred the term silencer, I suppose I could adapt.
 
This is exactly what I mean. I was posting in mother thread, and this jackass surly know it all gun store guy sends me this PM...

I will leave him anonymous...

'..."silencer" is NOT the proper term. They're suppressors, they don't silence anything and they're only called that in movies. If you did that in MY shop I'd ask you to leave'
 
Wow. OK, since he works at a shop, ask him which term he writes down when he fills out the Form 4 and the 4473. I can promise you he's not writing "suppressor" on those forms.
 
So the government calls semi-automatic AR-15's "assault weapons" and we're up in arms over that but we accept their terminology for a sound suppressor??? Shall we accept their health plan too???
 
This new frontier guy gives the gun industry a bad name. He's like a walking cliche.

He's sending me some very lively PMs! Lol for sure it must be a suppressor. Lol
 
There's a difference between the term 'assault weapon' and 'silencer'. Assault weapon is not an original term for the items it describes, whereas silencer is a legal and original term.

'Assault weapon' is purely a political term. I don't know who originated the term, but my guess is the gun control crowd started using the term to control political debate.

'Silencer' was the original term used by it's inventor, Hiram Percy Maxim. And legally it's known as a 'silencer', and has always been known as a 'silencer'. Speculation is that the silencer manufacturers first used the term 'suppressor' in their attempt to control the political debate, so as to convince the ATF to remove silencers from the NFA list.

So when you say SUPPRESSOR, you are engaging in political correctness. Suppressor is not incorrect, but neither is is correct. Just don't get your panties in a bunch when other people use politically correct terms like African American, Physically Challenged, Mentally Different, etc.

But most importantly, the term 'silencer' gets know it all gun store guys like newfrontier, all riled up! Lol
 
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newfrontier45 posted
So the government calls semi-automatic AR-15's "assault weapons" and we're up in arms over that but we accept their terminology for a sound suppressor??? Shall we accept their health plan too???
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C'mon, think a little bit here; this is completely different and you know it. The government calls it a "silencer" because the inventor called it that and patented it under that name. Then when the NFA was written they use the term "silencer" because that was what it was called; the term "sound suppressor" didn't exist then.

"Assault weapon" is a term for a made-up class of firearms that doesn't technically exist outside of gun-ban legislation. "Silencer" is term for an actual thing; a term that was first used by the person who invented it. If you can't tell the difference between the two, then I just don't know what to say...

EDIT: Oops; I didn't see Tony's reply just above me.
 
Machineguntony: Assault Rifle (not weapon) is an actual term that derives from Sturmgewehr, the German term for it's WWII assault rifles.
 
BigG posted:
Assault Rifle (not weapon) is an actual term that derives from Sturmgewehr, the German term for it's WWII assault rifles.
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None of us are referring to assault rifles; I'm pretty sure we all know what those are. What we're referring to is the made-up political term "assault weapon".
 
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