Texas: silencing guns?

Allowing silencers on guns for feral hog hunting has been so sucessful  uh, excitedly received that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has proposed allowing shotguns and rifles to be modified with sound suppressors for hunting game animal and game birds.

Currently silencers may only be used hunting nuisance “non game” animals like feral hogs.

He looks game for anything. (image from WIKI)

Seriously, do ya’ think there’s a chance the wild hogs are tipped off just a little bit by the helicopter noises? I doubt that sneaking up on the piggy guys is the reason for those silencers. Although hunters with sound suppression equipped rifles have been able to reduce the nuisance hogs around settled subdivisions like the Woodlands without disturbing the suburbanites cranky about their hog ravaged lawns.

Many neighborhoods also consider native alligators quite a nuisance.

But right now gator hunters can’t use silencers. Obviously it’s important to give alligators a heads-up so they can wake up and get ready. Make it an even contest.

Dreaming of lunch? (image from WIKI)

Silencers, in reality, aren’t silent like in the movies.

The noise is “reduced”. A sound suppressor slows the speed and velocity of the bullet which also affects the range of the bullet.

Want a really silent weapon?

Try a bow and arrow.

So, why would the White-tailed Deer Advisory Committee, of all groups, present the silencer proposal for consideration as a new hunting regulation?

• Hunters have realized all those loud gun noises badly damage hearing.
• Yeah, hunters should wear ear protectors – but that’s such a bother (and you have to buy them for the kids and everyone with you, too.)
• People in surrounding areas complain about the noise from all the shooting.
• Yeah, all that banging does let land owners know when someone is shooting on their property, legally or illegally.
• Silencers are just cool.
• Yeah, everyone wants to be cool. (And Ma keeps telling us to go outside and stop playing those violent video games)
• It’s a technological advancement
• Yeah, technology brings a “freshness” and “new enthusiasm” (burp) to the sport.
• Besides, the expense will limit who hunts with silencers: Must have a heavily regulated federal firearms license (about $200. and a 3-6 months wait for ATF approval), need a rifle ($1,000. for a cool one?), purchase a silencer/suppressor (about $400.), and, to make it really quiet, use sub-sonic ammunition (Over $50. a box in .308 or .223)
• Yeah, people would rather spend money on big screen TVs, Superbowl tickets, new fancy wheels for their vehicle, extreme tailgating cookers and rigs, or maybe season tickets to the opera or ballet.

Texas already leads the nation in gun suppression sales. Governor Rick Perry probably smiles over that fact. (You know how he points out how Texas is always leading the way.) Fourteen other states already allow silencers when hunting game.

Thinking invisibility cloak. (image from WIKI)

Don’t want Texas being left behind, but there’s stuff to be considered.

• Most of the game wardens are against this. They say it will make it harder to locate poachers.
• In a rural areas, kids learn to be alert for gunfire – and the direction it is coming from – during certain times of the year.
• Suburban sprawl is everywhere. Consider Harris County (Houston), and Galveston County (bedroom communities south of Houston). There are remaining populations of deer, and it is perfectly legal to shoot them. But does anyone really want hunters using silencers in the area? At least with noise of normal gunfire, people know when to duck – or run – or call the sheriff about dangerous situations.
• It’s legal to have hunting near schools. Remember the kids who were shot while playing on school grounds?
• Silencers might dampen celebrations. You know those people who, after a few drinks on a holiday, go out and start shooting guns in the air. They get all hooted up and want to make some noise. What fun would that be if there was a silencer on the rifle? (They could unscrew it and take it off, but might forget the first few shots). Without the loud gun fire, how would the neighbors know to call the police? So silences here are just lose-lose on this one: no satisfying bang-bang for the shooter, and no warning for the neighbors.

So Texas Parks and Wildlife is pondering.

Will this proposal silently slip through?

So seriously, watch out you deer, turkeys, quail, and squirrels! You little critters may still get a warning from your other predators: a snapping twig, a crashing of underbrush as the wolf, coyote, or cougar lunges forward. The loud gun blasts in the past might have alerted nearby animals to run. But not any more with silencers on hunting rifles.

Oh, that’s just silly.

One hunter assures me that the deer herd will flee before you can shoot all of them.

All of them?

What we talkin’ about here, Sport?

Splash dancers (image from WIKI)

For more information:

NBC Video: “Silent hunting in Texas: Suppressors may be on the way”

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Proposed changes for hunting regulations.

NRA:  “Suppressors: Good for Our Hearing and the Shooting Sports”

The Statesman (Austin. Mike Leggett): “Should we care whether hunters can use silencers on their guns?”

Houston Chronicle (Shannon Tompkins): “‘Silencers’ on firearms could get loud response”

Blog posts about hunting wild hogs / alligators click Texas Laws in the sidebar tag cloud

Bang-bang. They shot you down.

Bang-bang. You hit the ground.

Bang-bang, My Baby shot me down.

Phil, the Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge

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