12-05-2019, 02:46 PM
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/26/20828900/silencer-suppressor-online-sales-gun-accesories-atf-rules
DSD Tactical Arms calls them barrel shrouds. Hawk Innovative Tech says they’re solvent filters. Prepper’s Discount sells flashlight tubes. But with a few hours and a little elbow grease, all of these products become the same thing: gun silencers.
Silencers, otherwise known as suppressors, are among the most highly regulated gun accessories in the US. Under federal law, consumers must apply for a license to purchase them. The process involves paying a fee to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and submitting to extensive screening. It can take more than a year to get an answer. Americans eager to skip the wait, though, have a shortcut: tap one of the dozensof online retailers selling de facto suppressor parts and build their own.
Even a search for “solvent traps” on Amazon returns a page of unrelated items useful in silencer construction, such as automobile fuel filters. A spokesperson from Amazon refused to comment for this story, but emphasized that all the products sold on the site were legal.
“YOU CAN’T CONTROL PEOPLE TAKING LEGITIMATE ITEMS AND MAKING THEM INTO SOMETHING ILLEGITIMATE.”
This summer’s spate of mass shootings has increased the appetite in Washington for more restrictive gun safety laws, with Democrats now pushing for a new ban on assault weapons. But if the political calculus on pursuing new firearms restrictions is changing, the flourishing market for DIY silencers shows how difficult it can be to enforce regulations on guns and gun products when those regulations hinge on precise technical specifications.
Peter Tilem, a criminal defense attorney in New York with experience defending gun crimes cases, put it this way: “You can’t control people taking legitimate items and making them into something illegitimate. Sudafed is readily available; it’s also a precursor to methamphetamine, but we can’t ban Sudafed.” Homemade suppressors, like rubber bands used to make bump stocks and modified assault weapons, provide an avenue around restrictions.
Building a suppressor at home is, in theory, perfectly legal. Federal law requires that anyone who does so still register the device, and submit to a background check before construction. But the registration process, which is electronic, can be more than twice as fast as acquiring a completed suppressor from a manufacturer.
Connect With Us