If a lad sticks a soda bottle over the end of a rifle and is successfully prosecuted, was that a crime in which a silencer was used?
Yes, absolutely.
I'm wondering how many of those 44 crimes were anyone actually being shot at or threatened with a suppressed weapon.
My guess would be that part of the answer is in the quoted passage,
The agency has only recommended prosecutions for 44 silencer-related crimes per year over the past decade. ... Of those 44 crimes per year, only 6 involved defendants with prior felony convictions.
"Silencer related crimes" includes the crime of attempting to silence a firearm without prior Federal approval. The silencer doesn't even have to WORK for it to be a convictable offense. As the law is written the crime is the attempt to silence the firearm, absent prior Federal approval.
SO, a homemade "can" (or pop bottle or oil filter) even if that doesn't actually reduce the sound level of the report is still a FEDERAL CRIME if the
intent is to reduce the sound of gunfire.
They did not say "assaults" or "homicides", or even robberies, they said "silencer related crimes".. Every attempted silencer done without prior Fed approval is a crime. Simple possession of the necessary parts (unassembled) might be a silencer related crime (constructive possession).
Miscopy the serial number on the paperwork might be a silencer related crime. And, I would expect a convicted felon in possession of an NFA item would also be a crime, so there is a LOT of things that aren't any kind of attack on another human that could be a "silencer related crime".
so, let me rephrase, and ask, does anyone know (roughly) how many shootings /murders have been done with LEGALLY owned silencers since the NFA took effect??
I would ask the same about legal machine guns. I've heard there have been two. But I personally have no data...