When did suppressors become common

[trukinbear]

I don't shoot with the public, I wear hearing protection despite being mostly deaf - naa, I got better stuff to spend money on. I was just curious.

 

[Tlock]

Where did you move from? If California, I doubt you can own them there. I wasn't ever planning on getting one to avoid being on another list, but Hawaii decided to put all gun owners on the FBI criminal watchlist, so I bought three when I moved to Oregon. I see them at the rifle range just about every other time I go, which is typically at least once a month. I don't think I've ever seen one on the pistol range. There was also the $200 entry fee and an industry that wasn't motivated by reducing prices with supply and demand.

You definitely need to be on ALL the lists!!

 

[lucusloc]

4 decades in law enforcement, and I'd never even heard of someone legally owning a suppressor - yes, I knew that it was technically possible, like owning a machine gun is technically possible - though I'd never encountered a legally owned machine gun outside of a museum. Ok, I retired a long time ago, but I lived in what I thought was a gun crazy state, but it wasn't until I moved to Oregon AND joined this group before I ever heard of someone actually owning a suppressor, or even wanting one except for fictional 'hit men.' At the time of my retirement a holder of a (quite difficult to obtain) concieled carry permit couldn't even enter a public building, stadium, auditorium, bar, liquor store or anyplace that sold alcohol, school, park, bank, drug store, any place with a crowd over 25 people OR with the intention of 'going armed.' So when did owning, and walking outside of your home with a suppressor become a thing? Don't hate me - I'm old, sorry.

Really only the last decade or so. You can look up the historical NFA registries for suppressors. Prior to 2000 there were only ~750000 suppressors ever registered for the ~80 years the NFA was in effect. That is for all civilian uses cases including law enforcement. We did not hit over a million until sometime around 2010, and this was considered massive growth at the time (~25% of all suppressors ever registered until that point over that decade alone). By 2020, we had hit 2 million, and at the time that was considered really explosive growth, doubling the number in circulation over just that decade. By 2023 we had hit about 4 million, another doubling in just a matter of years. Now there are over 5 million in circulation, and still growing rapidly. At current growth rates we will hit over 10 million in private inventory before 2030, and I bet we actually hit those targets as there is zero indication we are getting anywhere close to market saturation. Hell, we may hit that target in the next few years if someone releases a cheap suppressor (due to the zero cost stamps). They are only going to get more common from here on out.

 

[trukinbear]

Really only the last decade or so. You can look up the historical NFA registries for suppressors. Prior to 2000 there were only ~750000 suppressors ever registered for the ~80 years the NFA was in effect. That is for all civilian uses cases including law enforcement. We did not hit over a million until sometime around 2010, and this was considered massive growth at the time (~25% of all suppressors ever registered until that point over that decade alone). By 2020, we had hit 2 million, and at the time that was considered really explosive growth, doubling the number in circulation over just that decade. By 2023 we had hit about 4 million, another doubling in just a matter of years. Now there are over 5 million in circulation, and still growing rapidly. At current growth rates we will hit over 10 million in private inventory before 2030, and I bet we actually hit those targets as there is zero indication we are getting anywhere close to market saturation. Hell, we may hit that target in the next few years if someone releases a cheap suppressor (due to the zero cost stamps). They are only going to get more common from here on out.

Thank you, that makes sense

 

[roseburger]

You definitely need to be on ALL the lists!!

I think I am at this point.

 

[1775usmc]

For awhile now….

 

[gearhead]

I held off for years. Mostly, the long wait times kept the purchase at bay. We were young when we started a family, at I didn't feel I was in a position to spend $1,000 then wait for six months to get what I had paid for. Now that I'm older and financially stable, and the wait times have dropped to a matter of days or weeks rather than months, I went ahead and took the plunge. Shooting is much more pleasant now, especially for the kids. In my area, they're pretty common. I'd say 50% of the shooters I know own at least one. There was a time when I didn't want to be on a list, until someone pointed out to me that I'm government property and already on lists. Made sense.

 

[NoMadMeHappy]

For me they have been a thought for a long time, but...

• with recent availability of many factory threaded rifles
• State gun laws getting more restrictive and getting into "by them while you can" mode
• The recent drop of the tax stamp to $0
• eForms making the process way easier
• the recent super fast approval times
• I'm getting old and don't enjoy the recoil from higher calibers anymore

I now own quite a few, with a couple still on the way. I love shooting suppressed.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

I've seen them (recently) in nearly every gun store I've visited, but I've never seen one in use. I imagine they sound nothing like Hollywood's beer can opening/electric typewriter sounds.

Like this?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws8LAfD_3BA

 

[nwslopoke]

Shooting at Brown's camp rock pit, which has been 3-5 years ago, full auto and suppressed guns were not uncommon. I would see them from time to time. At a friend's house in Vernonia I have heard FA on occasions.

If the laws or hurdles were easier/cheaper a few years before I may have gone the suppressed route.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Really only the last decade or so. You can look up the historical NFA registries for suppressors. Prior to 2000 there were only ~750000 suppressors ever registered for the ~80 years the NFA was in effect. That is for all civilian uses cases including law enforcement. We did not hit over a million until sometime around 2010, and this was considered massive growth at the time (~25% of all suppressors ever registered until that point over that decade alone). By 2020, we had hit 2 million, and at the time that was considered really explosive growth, doubling the number in circulation over just that decade. By 2023 we had hit about 4 million, another doubling in just a matter of years. Now there are over 5 million in circulation, and still growing rapidly. At current growth rates we will hit over 10 million in private inventory before 2030, and I bet we actually hit those targets as there is zero indication we are getting anywhere close to market saturation. Hell, we may hit that target in the next few years if someone releases a cheap suppressor (due to the zero cost stamps). They are only going to get more common from here on out.

Suppressor Numbers Nearly Double in 3 Years, 4.86 million+

Data from Federal regulators show that the number of firearm suppressors, often called silencers, is climbing at an incredible rate.

www.guns.com

At this point suppressors most definitely are not "dangerous and unusual" going by any metric of counting, especially taking the Caetano opinion (200,000+ stun guns nationwide=commonly possessed) but you won't hear/see the SCOTUS take a case up regarding NFA items anytime soon

 

[NoMadMeHappy]

When people started hating on muzzle brakes

 

[roseburger]

I don't shoot with the public, I wear hearing protection despite being mostly deaf - naa, I got better stuff to spend money on. I was just curious.

If you only shoot with LEO, then you probably won't run into one.

 

[CountryGent]

I imagine they sound nothing like Hollywood's beer can opening/electric typewriter sounds.

Generally, no. Though we have a few setups that are very quiet. All pistol caliber and subsonics, of course. In one case, a very large can on top of those factors. But the actual Hollyweird "pewp" sound, no — it is a fiction.

As to the original question, I can't really say. In the last five to ten years is when I noticed them all over. I was even at a pawn shop the other day that had a display case of about a half dozen or so cans. Back in the day (80s) I knew more peeps with registered machine-guns than silencers. Now, it is the reverse. (We have every NFA category, including machine-guns, but sans DD, in the in the current battery. But, admittedly, the firearms interests of the adults in our household have always been eclectic. )

 

[Alexx1401]

I think I am at this point.

I have made a point of trying to get on every list for a many years now

 

[nehalemguy]

At a friend's house in Vernonia I have heard FA on occasions.

Yeah, that's Vernonia. Neighborhood is a little sketch up here.

-E-

 

[nehalemguy]

Yes, there used to be a CLEO reporting requirement, but all that did was inform the Chief LEO in your area of your intention to purchase a Class III item. This would not trickle down to individual officers.

The CLEO notification requirement is still in place, but that's all it is.....notification. The "Hey...I'm going to buy this" requirement.

It used to be that you had to get approval from your CLEO to then get approval from the ATF. That hurdle went by the wayside a few years back.

-E-

 

[Tlock]

I have made a point of trying to get on every list for a many years now

Thats why you have to stay 200ft from a school.....jk jk

 

[nehalemguy]

Question............

Did more recent/frequent silencer use by our military (i.e. Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan) perhaps influence their popularity stateside?

-E-

 

[Nosferatu]

The CLEO notification requirement is still in place, but that's all it is.....notification. The "Hey...I'm going to buy this" requirement.

It used to be that you had to get approval from your CLEO to then get approval from the ATF. That hurdle went by the wayside a few years back.

-E-

Yeah, I realized that I misremembered shortly after posting it, but left it because I had other bubblegum to do and it wasn't really a key element of my entire post.

I should have known somebody would have to 'well....aktuallllyyyyy' it!