Can civilians own a silencer?

The real question is why do you want one? Use ear goggles if you want noise suppression. I cannot think of ANY reason why a civilian should be allowed a silencer/suppressor other than the single obvious one.
Because it's cool, lol. It can be put on a secured glass display under spotlights with the rest of your firearm collection and shown to your friends and people who come visit your house. I mean, people collect all kinds of crap nowadays. It's not a bomb or anything dangerous like that. As long as it's well documented and the necessary licenses acquired, I don't see what the problem is.

And of course it's nice to answer a question for the visitors of the forum who might also wonder the same thing.
 
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Nah, c'mon, it's not quite the same. What am I going to do? Kill someone with my own silenced gun and than hope there won't be a ballistic match? The only thing that beats displaying a silencer in your living room is displaying a ballistic missile. And I'm guessing it'll take a while before they start handing out licenses for those. :)
 
question: why own one in the first place? to protect yourself? are you gonna take the time to put the silencer on (do they make guns that you don't have to mess with the extra piece?)???

sorry, just some dumb questions.
 
Nah, c'mon, it's not quite the same. What am I going to do? Kill someone with my own silenced gun and than hope there won't be a ballistic match? The only thing that beats displaying a silencer in your living room is displaying a ballistic missile. And I'm guessing it'll take a while before they start handing out licenses for those. :)
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Don't underestimate the power of people's stupidity...especially when it comes to guns. I still haven't gotten over the women who shot herself in the head by putting a loaded firearm under her pillow. The punchline...she was a cop. Watch Youtube if you don't believe me, some of the stuff people do is unbelieveable and these morons are so dumb, they actually film themselves being irresponsible, stupid, and unsafe.

But more to the point, the reason you ban silencers is because while most buyers might be legitimate, those silencers would eventually wind up in the hands of criminals. Any cop will tell you that most guns used in crimes are stolen or illegally traded from/by LEGAL gun owners.

"looks cool" is not a valid reason to legalize something whose sole purpose is to commit murder.
 
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"looks cool" is not a valid reason to legalize something whose sole purpose is to commit murder.
You're going to have to take that to your local law maker because it's already legal, provided that you're willing to go thorugh all that paperwork and the extra provisions.

Normal people, let alone intelligent ones, shouldn't be penalized because of the actions of dumb people. The vast majority of the crimes are committed with unsilenced guns anyway, so I don't see how owning a silencer can effect the statistics that badly.

The thing is, I never even said I wanted to own one. I simply asked a question, which was answered and I'm thankful for that. Would I want a silencer in the future? Maybe. I do think it's a "cool" item to put on display. But if it's going to cost me my privacy, I probably won't.
 
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Normal people, let alone intelligent ones, shouldn't be penalized because of the actions of dumb people. The vast majority of the crimes are committed with unsilenced guns anyway, so I don't see how owning a silencer can effect the statistics that badly.

YOU HAVE A POINT THERE.

*sorry, all caps
question, how do we know who are the dumb ones, and who would just "snap"? another reason why i wouldn't own a gun, people could just snap in the blink of an eye.
 
You're going to have to take that to your local law maker because it's already legal, provided that you're willing to go thorugh all that paperwork and the extra provisions.

Normal people, let alone intelligent ones, shouldn't be penalized because of the actions of dumb people. The vast majority of the crimes are committed with unsilenced guns anyway, so I don't see how owning a silencer can effect the statistics that badly.

The thing is, I never even said I wanted to own one. I simply asked a question, which was answered and I'm thankful for that. Would I want a silencer in the future? Maybe. I do think it's a "cool" item to put on display. But if it's going to cost me my privacy, I probably won't.
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That depends on the state, some states like mine they are totally banned. And those that do allow it require a special type of license, which is why very few people actually do. I understood you, but you failed to answer the general question that was asked twice, which was: Why does a regular citizen need on?

TogaOga

I am not talking about the mentally ill or criminals, thats a given. I am talking about stupid people who have no respect for firearm safety.

That goes back to the original question "Why do normal law-abiding citizens need one?" Its the same reason we don't issue ICBMs to the public, not only they are dangerous and there is no actual reason for a law abiding citizen to own one. Only a very few select few public sector jobs are issued silencers. They are so dangerous they aren't even issued as regular gear to most police or military personnel.
 
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Why would anyone need a Ferrari, or a freaking Hummer, or a huge diamong ring, or a 10 million dollar house, or a wall-to-wall TV set? Because they can and want to? Don't underestimate the power of "cool" monsieur. :)
 
A suppressor is a HUGE advantage for a home defense weapon, you won't be wearing hearing protection if you're listening for movement, and firing a weapon indoors is literally deafening.

I also love suppressors because if they were legal in this state I could shoot in my backyard without annoying the neighbors, and without wearing those uncomfortable earmuffs.
 
No such thing as a person who snaps, their is a hidden (usually) build up that explodes eventually.

The silencer is restricted the way it is mainly due to our wonderful mafia. The old timers screwed things up for the rest of us.
 
I also love suppressors because if they were legal in this state I could shoot in my backyard without annoying the neighbors, and without wearing those uncomfortable earmuffs.
Now that is probably the best reason I've ever heard to keep silencers on the banned list. To stop people using firearms in an irresponsible manner.
 
YOU HAVE A POINT THERE.

*sorry, all caps
question, how do we know who are the dumb ones, and who would just "snap"? another reason why i wouldn't own a gun, people could just snap in the blink of an eye.
Those who keep their guns under their pillows and accidentally shoot themselves are dumb ones. But that's just natural selection. How about a proper gun owner training program? Even an IQ test? Technically, a silencer doesn't make a gun any more lethal than it already is. It can, however, make things easier for a would be criminal. Which is not the gun's or silencer's fault. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. A car can also be easily used to kill someone. And they do, in fact a lot more than guns! Now, should we ban cars? :)
 
Now that is probably the best reason I've ever heard to keep silencers on the banned list. To stop people using firearms in an irresponsible manner.

Because firing into the side of a hill with NOWHERE for the rounds to possibly go except the target is irresponsible. Sorry, no. It's not even like I live in suburbs, I'm in a rural area in case you didn't know.

Edit: Even if the rounds did go over, which would not even happen if my rifle was bump-fired (incredibly improbable) there are miles and miles of state forest behind that. Still, irrelevant because you'd have to be intentionally trying to miss the side of a hill to fail that badly.

Guess I'm just tired of all these limitations on my property. Tons of people around here have ATVs, but now they just sit in garages collecting dust because it's now illegal to go on the paths that have been used for decades. Then the DEC guy complains that the trails are degrading. GUESS WHAT WAS KEEPING THEM OPEN? Not a week ago my neighbor was finishing up his new house and they forced him to burn over $400 of gas moving the backhoe back and forth between towns EVERY DAY because it's illegal to have a certain weight on your property at night here. Absolute madness.
 
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I also love suppressors because if they were legal in this state I could shoot in my backyard without annoying the neighbors, and without wearing those uncomfortable earmuffs.
I take it that your neighbours are bullet proof?

I would have thought that if your neighbours were close enough to be annoyed by gun shots, the area is far too built up to be used as a firing range.
 
I'd be fine with it if my neighbor started a range in his yard, I know him well enough to know that he is responsible with firearms. Of course, since suppressors are illegal in this state it'd be pointless as the noise pollution would be intolerable.

I just wish these kinds of decisions remained in the hands of the local community rather than some politician in another city who thinks he knows best, but in fact knows nothing.
 
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Things like this are done because you will never be able to guarantee who your neighbour is or whether he is responsible with firearms.
 
Nah, c'mon, it's not quite the same. What am I going to do? Kill someone with my own silenced gun and than hope there won't be a ballistic match? The only thing that beats displaying a silencer in your living room is displaying a ballistic missile. And I'm guessing it'll take a while before they start handing out licenses for those. :)

...maybe in Florida?
 
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