What's Stopping You From Buying a Silencer?

I'm Not buying a Silencer? Here's why....

....because I can't afford even the $300.00 Federal Tax Stamp. That has to be added to each and every Silencer you buy. Good Silencers here in Indianapolis run anywhere from 500 to over a 1000 US Dollars.

If I need to shoot, I'll shoot. I'll worry about my hearing afterwards. I'm sure as heck not going to be concerned about the Thug/Punk's hearing that caused me to shoot.
 
Yes he did. But unfortunately the Walmart and McDonald's business plan just won't work in an industry so heavily regulated like NFA items are. If we all want prices to go down, the best thing we can do is to petition our congresspeople to loosen the laws and allow the free market to have more influence like it does in the fast food business or the big box store business.

Unfortunately, Obama recently penned an Executive Action that asked the BATFE to make silencers even harder to get. The specific policies have been delayed for a while, but it's still driving prices even higher than they are now.

I agree that prices are too high. But Wyosmith just doesn't seem to understand that the McDonald's business plan doesn't work in an industry like this.
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Agreed.

All the red tape makes it more expensive and thus not a priority for most of the shooters out there.

Unfortunately in our current state of politics and society's mentality, it will be very hard to have these regulations loosened up.

I'm curious to hear which company makes the $200 suppressors you were talking about.
 
Running a gun with out a can is like running a car with oiut a muffler. I dont sell suppressors but i own 3 and I can not believe how much more I enjoy shooting now that I own a few.

My 45-70 was a rifle I only shot sighting in and hunting. Now I shoot it several times a month (yes I reload)

For some people it may not make as much of a difference but for me it made my hobby much more fun.

All of my suppressors are higher end suppressors (cost wise) but to me the ability to shoot with out hearing protection (at least subsonics) is worth a lot. Having a conversation while shooting with out the headache afterwords is worth every penny to me.
 
Gemtech is one of the companies that make the 200$ supressor. I talked to my lgs and she said she ordered one for a customer and he was disappointed in the quality and amount of suppression. Said she wouldn't order another.
 
kilotanker22 said:
the thing stopping me is the fact that my county sherriff will not sign off on a supressor
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That shouldn't be a reason to stop you. Almost all the CLEOs in my area won't sign off either. So, in my neck of the woods, almost everyone uses a trust instead.

A trust is superior in several ways: Once it's set up, it's a lot faster to buy an NFA item because there's no fingerprints, photos, or sign-offs required. And with a trust you can submit your paperwork via E-file, which cuts the current ten-month-wait in half or even more. And with a trust, more than one person can possess the NFA items. If I had gone the sign-off route, my wife and I would be breaking federal law because she has access to my gun safe. But because she's also on my trust, it's completely legal.

I know someone here who has managed to get one sign-off for a silencer. But he hasn't managed it since and all his other silencers are on a trust. His wife is on his trust, but the problem is that his wife can legally have access to all his silencers except that one that he got signed off. So he actually regrets the sign-off and wishes he had also bought that one using his trust.
 
Two answer the OP's question, there are a few things that stopped me.

1) I really don't want to deal with the NFA.
2) I looked into it once several years ago, the NFA dealer asked where I lived, I told him. He said "forget it, you'll never get a CLEO sign off you'll have to do a trust", I took his word for it.
3) Cost, not that I can't afford it, I just cant justify it.
 
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Justice06RR said:
I'm curious to hear which company makes the $200 suppressors you were talking about.
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Oops, I missed this question from almost two months ago. Some of the smaller companies like Bowers, Huntertown, YHM, and Thompson sell rimfire silencers at around $150 - $200 and pistol silencers at around $350 - $450. And you can sometimes find really small manufacturers selling low-end suppressors at prices even cheaper than that. You can also get some really good deals on older model silencers that people consider outdated.
 
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Mostly the money and paperwork. Now that Ohio is passing law to use for hunting hopefully the prices will come down a little. From what I've seen the benefit doesn't equal the price & hassle
 
As anyone used one of those oil can converters? I don't know the legality of them, and they're a little fugly, but they seem like a legal alternative that's cheap.
 
If you're talking about the "solvent traps" that pop up from time to time, I'd say either you're sure about legality, or you're not. I, for one, don't care to risk the penalties associated with possessing a suppressor without the appropriate tax stamp.

ETA: See this thread for a discussion of these.
 
veamon said:
As anyone used one of those oil can converters? I don't know the legality of them, and they're a little fugly, but they seem like a legal alternative that's cheap.
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If you're talking about the "solvent traps" that don't require paperwork, the sale of those is dubiously legal just like Spats said. But it's definitely NOT dubious if you're caught using an unregistered "solvent trap" as a silencer; that's a potential ten year prison term and a $250,000 fine.

Garycw said:
For the oil filter type you need a tax stamp for the adapter that fits between filter & barrel.
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Not only do you need a tax stamp for the adapter just like it was a normal silencer, but you're not even allowed to change out the oil filters yourself; not unless you want to commit a federal felony.

The BATFE regulates what it considers "silencer parts"; when you attach an oil filter to an adapter the filter becomes a silencer part. And just as it's illegal for the user to change out the baffles on a normal suppressor, if you change out the oil filter on an oil filter suppressor you're breaking federal law and you're eligible for 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The only way you can legally change the filter is to send the whole thing back to the manufacturer or another properly licensed company.

The adapter is supposed to come with one filter that's serialized, and when that filter wears out you need to send the whole thing back to the manufacturer for them to change the filter for you. Most manufacturers only charge about $25 for this.
 
I realize that buying a silencer is like buying a new car. The moment it leaves the store, the value of it drops significantly (in the case of a silencer, it probably drops to zero because it a preowned silencer is practically unsalable), there is always a newer model coming out, and the newer models are always cooler/more advanced than the previous model.
 
Ohio just passed a law approving them for hunting also. I'm not sure what effect this will have on new & used suppressors.
Personally I wouldn't have a problem buying used if in good shape & price was at least 1/2 of new
 
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