On October 18th, the Firearms Research Center, in conjunction with the Wyoming Law Review, hosted a symposium on the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. The one-day event featured panels that examined many aspects of this major federal law.
The NFA was enacted in 1934 and was the first major federal restriction on certain types of firearms and accoutrements. The law required registration of machine guns, silencers (suppressors), and short-barreled rifles and shotguns. It also imposed a $200 tax stamp.
Many of these sessions were recorded. I discuss interesting aspects of each. Several of these sessions are available for CLE credit.
The American Suppressor Association and Hearing Protection
Michael Williams, General Counsel, American Suppressor Association and the American Cornerstone Institute
1 hour of CLE
The fifth and final video in our National Firearms Act Series was a presentation by the General Counsel for the American Suppressor Association (ASA). This organization works to change the public’s understanding of suppressors and their practical use for hearing protection. Suppressors, or silencers, are regulated under the NFA. ASA works to loosen those regulations to permit the use of suppressors nationwide.
Hiram Percy Maxim, son of the machine gun inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim, was a renaissance man. As an inventor, he started out designing automobiles. By the turn of the 20th century, he added firearms inventions to his list of accomplishments, specifically a device that would reduce the sound of gunfire. He called it a silencer. By his own admission, he invented it to reduce the damage done to hearing for a more enjoyable shooting experience at the range. Although he did attempt government contracts, it would not be until much later, and long after his death, that military use on a larger scale would become a reality. Therefore, his invention was mostly for the public. He did not stop with firearms silencers though. He developed mufflers for automobiles, steam engines, and a host of other everyday items.
However, his brilliance in marketing has been the cause of great confusion even today, with many not realizing that a silencer does not silence anything, rather it reduces sound to levels less damaging to the human ear. This presentation dives deeper into the science and application of multiple types of hearing protection, arguing that silencers are an extension of that.
The FRC neither takes a stance on proposed laws nor endorses the lobbying work of other organizations.