Yes, I do believe we should "think" a little bit and beyond what happened 100yrs ago. Maxim was free to call it whatever he wanted. Want to see some real marketing fluff, look at some of the old ads for Herter's revolvers. Fact remains, they do not "silence" anything and it's a common misconception among the unwashed masses that they do. It also contributes to the Hollywood-induced myth that they're a tool of the assassin. All of which makes it nearly impossible to get the NFA repealed. What it does is that it suppresses the sound produced. In Europe, they're called "moderators", which is also infinitely more accurate than "silencer". They're also sold without ANY special licensing whatsoever. My point was that governments, politicians and lawyers do and say stupid things and don't always have the interests of the people or their freedom at heart. I don't know why we would lend any credibility to anything they do without engaging our own brains first.