. . . this time responding to a particularly clueless and uninformed rant against firearm suppressors.
The following post is from author Elizabeth Moon, who is an extremely good science fiction writer, but who apparently knows jack shit about guns. Which is kind of sad, since she was a Marine. There is so much wrong with this post that … I’m going to have to break it down and fisk it line by line …
. . .
There is so much nonsense in there that it is going to take some time to refute it all. This is a perfect example of Brandolini’s Bullshit Asymmetry Principle, in that it takes an order of magnitude more effort to refute bullshit than to create it.
. . .
The thing that congress is talking about doing is moving suppressors from the NFA, to treating them like they were regular guns. The NFA is bloated, inefficient, slow, and basically a useless relic requiring 1934 level tech. We have a National Insta Check System already for firearms purchases, so there’s no reason they couldn’t just use it instead. Personally, I think they’re just glorified pipes, so even treating them like a firearm is kind of silly, but it’s an improvement over our current archaic system.
Now let’s break down Elizabeth Moon’s hyperbolic silliness, line by silly line.
So the House is once again trying to sneak through a bill that deregulates silencers on personal weapons. Yes, they really want us all dead…
That’s just stupid. If congress wanted us all dead it would be easier to just put the democrats from Flint in charge of our water supply.
they really want to make it easier for their right wing goons to shoot us and not be heard doing so.That’s right. Congress wants roving bands of redneck ninja death squads, silent but deadly, offing delicate Bambi-like progressives who were just standing on the corner minding their own business.
There’s much more at the link. I’ve added links for the benefit of those (particularly overseas readers) who may not understand all the references Larry makes. Highly recommended reading.
If you’ve never known anything about suppressors except what Hollywood (inaccurately) portrays in its movies, Larry’s rant will give you an instant (and very accurate) education in what they’re all about. Most important, they are not, repeat, NOT “silencers”! There’s no such thing as a completely silent firearm. A suppressor does precisely what its proper name suggests; it suppresses – but does not eliminate – the report of a cartridge being fired. The extent to which it does so depends on many things, including the cartridge concerned, the velocity of the bullet, the design of the suppressor, ambient weather conditions, and a host of other details.
If you’d like to, not just learn, but see how a suppressor works, this video will show you.
Peter
Amazing video – wow!
Larry for the win! 🙂
Loved the comments on Larry's site. My definite favorite included this gem:
"nuttier than a squirrel fart"
That's gold right there!
The way I run the numbers, I don’t think I’ll be ditching my hearing pro even if the law passes. If they can get another 10-15 dB out of the cans, maybe. Or if someone really credible shows me data that shows me I’m wrong.
Not that I think anything about the law is a bad thing. I still want it to pass.
As far as I know it is not quite entirely right that you can't get a pistol down to Hollywood levels.
It takes VERY special guns with VERY special munition.
The Soviets developed them for the KGB. Essentially it is a subsonic munition where the gunpowder is completely encased and the case then telescopes out. The expanding gasses are completely contained in the case.
http://modernfirearms.net/ammunition/russian-special-cartridges-e.html
http://modernfirearms.net/handguns/hg/rus/pss-silent-e.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K73kKODFyzw
He shoots the gun around 0:21 or 0:22.
Of course I don't know how loud the gun is in real life, but it sounds pretty silent to me.
One point that Larry should have emphasized:
Suppressors get very large to make a gun very quiet.
Awkwardly large. Not what you would call concealable. Best I've witnessed were tripod mounted MG's. The cans were as big as the whole gun. Pretty much the same for handheld weapons, and bigger, in some cases. They quickly become impractical in size. That's why they tend to be marginally quiet, mostly.