Legislation that will allow the legal owners of firearm noise suppressors to actually use them in Washington State is now headed to Gov. Christine Gregoire’s desk, where it should be signed due to the overwhelming support it got in both houses of the State Legislature, and from law enforcement.
Passed by the Senate yesterday 47-0, House Bill 1016, sponsored by State Rep. Brian Blake (D-19th District) passed 88-4 in the House back on Feb. 7. Supported by police, this bipartisan legislation will correct a long-standing oddity in state law that allowed the ownership of a suppressor, and even allowed people to put them on a rifle or pistol. You just couldn’t actually use the gun with the suppressor attached.
Under federal law, the National Firearms Act (NFA) regulates firearms and silencers, which must be registered in a database maintained by the NFA Branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. To purchase a silencer, a person has to get a certification from the local chief law enforcement officer, undergo a background check, obtain prior approval for the transfer, and pay a $200 tax on the transaction.—Press release from Rep. Brian Blake
“That’s like saying it is okay to buy a TV set but it’s illegal to turn it on,” Blake said in a press release.
While the gun prohibition lobby will find some reason to oppose this measure, noise suppressors have a multitude of common sense uses in the Evergreen State:
· They will cut down on noise at outdoor gun ranges that have been suffering in recent years from suburban expansion.
· They will reduce muzzle blast at indoor ranges as well, where even hearing protection sometimes seems inadequate when shooting, or standing next to someone who is shooting, anything above a .357 Magnum-caliber handgun.
· They can be useful for predator control.
· Reducing noise from shooting is good for the preservation of one’s hearing.
“My bill simply brings coherence to the statute by making it legal to use suppressors that are duly registered in accordance with federal law.”—State Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen
As noted above, it is and has been legal for years for private citizens to own a suppressor. They are sold at many gun shops from Puget Sound to Spokane. Wade’s in Bellevue has a whole counter case full of them, and one sees them for sale at gun shows.
One needs the proper federal license and documentation from local law enforcement, or ownership can be accomplished through a family trust.
Blake is a hunter and shooter, and he wears a hearing aid. He obviously plans to be using a suppressor. And so are a lot of other Washingtonians.
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