Silencer hunting bill moves out of committee in Georgia

Georgia State Senator Bill Heath

It has been a good couple of days for silencer advocates. Yesterday, an Iowa bill that would legalize silencers in the Hawkeye state moved out of committee. Today in Georgia, a bill to legalize hunting with silencers in that state has advanced out of  the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

SB 93 would remove the current prohibition on hunting with silencers and would allow silencers for any game that can otherwise lawfully be taken with a firearm. The bill also mandates a three year suspension of hunting privileges for anyone using a silencer while “hunting without landowner permission, hunting in an area that is closed for hunting, or by hunting big game out of season or at night with a firearm equipped with a suppressor.”

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Iowa silencer bill advances from committee

Iowa House of Representatives

The American Silencer Association reports that the Judiciary Committee of the Iowa General Assembly has advanced HF 384, which would legalize silencers in Iowa for those who are otherwise in compliance with the law, including the National Firearms Act. The bill can now be schedule for debate by the full Iowa House, but it still has a long way to go before becoming law.

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ATF plans scheduled restarts to beat eForms bugs

ATF eForms

Registered eForms system users received this email from ATF today:

As  you are aware, eForms has had performance issues for the past three weeks.  We are diligently working with experts in the field to resolve the issues. Until we can get the issues resolved we will be implementing automated restarts of the server at 4:00 am, 9:00 am, NOON, and 3:00 pm eastern time.  We have determined that the restart of the servers clears “stuck threads” on the servers and improves the overall performance of eForms.  We realize that the unscheduled restarts were disrupting your workday and this will allow you to plan around the scheduled restarts.

Restarts will take approximately one hour to complete during which time eForms will not be available.  Again, this is only a temporary measure until a more permanent solution is implemented.

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AR-15 Podcast: Silencers

An apologia for eForms

ATF eForms

ATF eForms users received this message this morning from the agency explaining problems with the eForms system but touting the volume of applications that it is still managing to accept. Res ipsa loquitur.

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Ohio lawmakers hit the range to learn about silencers

Andy Loeffler of Black Wing Shooting Center instructs Rep. Mike Sheehy, D-Oregon (Columbus Dispatch)

As floor debate likely approaches on legislation to legalize silencers for hunters in Ohio, some lawmakers recently went to the Black Wing Shooting Center for a demonstration. About ten legislators made the trip to watch and listen at an event organized by the Buckeye Firearms Association. Some of them even stepped to the firing line to get some hands-on experience.

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Iowa legislature considering silencer legalization

Iowa Representative Matt Windschitl (R)

Iowa stands out as one of the few Midwestern American states—along with Minnesota and Illinois—that prohibit the private use of silencers. That could change if H.F. 384 becomes law in the Hawkeye State. Introduced by Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley) last March, the bill would eliminate the prohibition on private possession and use of these items in Iowa. After being referred to a subcommittee, the bill is now before the full Judiciary Committee of the Iowa House of Representatives.

Rep. Windschitl cites hearing protection and noise abatement as the principal reasons that he introduced the bill. A member of the House subcommittee to which it was originally referred, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D-Ames), apparently has real firearms mufflers confused with Hollywood silencers that totally eliminate the report of a firearm.  According to Iowa media accounts, Rep. Wessel-Kroeschell “said suppressor-equipped firearms could make it more difficult for people to find safety during shootings. ‘When they heard the shots at Newton, you had teachers, heroic teachers, pushing kids to safety because they heard the shots.'”

Review: Huntertown Arms Kestrel 5.56

Huntertown Kestrel 5.56

When I finally decided to get a silencer in December 2012, I was not sure that I would be getting more than one. I was nervous about spending a lot of money, especially when the cost of every new silencer includes a mandatory two hundred dollar donation to the federal government. It seemed to me that getting a can that could serve in multiple roles would be a good way to get started.

Specifically, I liked the idea of having a centerfire can that I could also use when shooting rimfire .22 through my AR using my CMMG .22LR AR conversion. In the tough ammo market following the Sandy Hook tragedy, shooting the cheaper rimfire through my AR seemed to make a lot of sense. I had read about how quickly rimfire can gunk up a can, so I decided that I wanted a user serviceable model. At the uber inexpensive end of the market, the Huntertown Arms Kestrel 5.56 seemed like just what I was looking for, with an MSRP of $499. I got mine just after New Year’s 2013 via gunbroker.com for $429 (not including the $200 transfer tax or the $75 local dealer NFA transfer fee).

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More technical problems with ATF eForms

ATF eForms

Because of the much shorter wait times it offers for the processing of NFA-related forms, the eForms system is the most celebrated accomplishment of the ATF in the last year (faint praise, given the unpleasant surprise of ATF 41P, and the generally anti-freedom mission of the whole agency). Unfortunately, as with other federal websites that are under construction, the eForms system has been plagued with difficulties, ranging from complaints about the unintuitive user experience to periodic system-wide outages.

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Silencer ownership up in Ohio, across the country

Suppressed AR-15

Silencers are selling like hotcakes, and the media is starting to take notice. In an article published on Tuesday, the Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register informs readers in the Ohio Valley that most states do not prohibit silencers, and that more and more states are removing prohibitions on hunting with silencers.

The paper reports that ATF has seen a substantial uptick in applications related to the making and transfer of silencers both in Ohio and across the country.

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