Following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, gun rights activists are looking ahead to changes in laws that regulate silencers, The Washington Free Beacon reports.
Gun rights organizations said that silencer laws are one of the groups' top priorities, in addition to appointing a Supreme Court justice who is in favor of guns and a national law that allows gun-carrying licenses to be accepted in all states.
American Suppressor Association president Knox Williams told the Free Beacon, "I'm very excited. Honestly, I can't wait to start getting after it."
The Hearing Protection Act bill has not yet made it through Congress, but it would remove silencers from under the control of the National Firearms Act of 1934. Getting a silencer requires a $200 tax stamp and a wait of several months for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to process the paperwork.
Gun owners believe the silencer is safety equipment, and point out that the process is more difficult than buying a firearm, the Free Beacon notes.
The American Suppressor Association is looking for bipartisan sponsors for the bill. Williams said that New Hampshire legalized hunting with silencers with unanimous support, becoming the 40th state to do that.
Passing the act in the next Congress is a priority for his group, and Williams told the Free Beacon that his confidence is "pretty high" that it will happen, but he knows some agenda items are more pressing.
"Will it happen in the first hundred days? Who knows? That's what we're going for. We're trying to get it done as quick as possible," he said.
One silencer manufacturer in Kansas has clashed with federal gun laws. Shane Cox was found guilty of violating federal law for making and selling unregistered silencers, according to an AP report in Bearing Arms.
According to Guns.com, it's possible the Hearing Protection Act would legalize homemade silencers.
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