The legislation is H.R. 404, the Hearing Protection Act.
Currently, under NFA rules, the acquisition of a suppressor requires the purchaser to be fingerprinted, photographed, and to undergo an extensive background check. The purchaser must then pay a $200 tax to the federal government and the suppressor is registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). This is the same cumbersome process required for purchasing a machine gun, short-barreled rifle, and/or short-barreled shotgun.
WATCH — Assault on 2A: AWR Hawkins Exposes ATF Director’s Ambiguity on Gun Sales Threshold:
Cline’s bill would eliminate the process — and the $200 tax — by moving suppressors outside NFA oversight.
The left has fought legislation to deregulate suppressors in the past, falsely arguing that suppressors are silencers that completely mask the sound of a gunshot. During Donald J. Trump’s first term, House Speaker Paul Ryan fell prey to the left’s false cries and shelved a Hearing Protection Act that had a great chance of passage.
But Cline’s bill comes amid a tidal wave of pro-gun legislation, all designed to see passage and make it to Trump’s desk post-January 20.
National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) senior vice president and general counsel Lawrence Keane commented on Cline’s Hearing Protection Act, saying, “Strict regulatory control of firearm accessories, and the parts of those accessories that have no bearing on the function of a firearm, is unnecessary and not the wisest use of federal resources. NSSF thanks Congressman Cline for his leadership for ensuring safe and responsible use of firearms and dedicating necessary resources where they are most needed.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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