Your Privacy Choices
With the recent appalling and horrific event that occurred in Las Vegas many aspects of the firearms industry have come under fire. Whether it is bump stocks or items that were never even utilized during the Las Vegas event, much of our industry has received an unnecessary, negative limelight. This includes silencers. Unfortunately, certain factions of the media cannot discern the difference between a flash hider, a silencer and one not being present at all. Finally, the American Suppressor Association (ASA), after a long period of silence, has made a public statement.
Unlike much of the media, they wanted as much information to be brought to light as possible before commenting. This is their public statement that was sent out via e-mail to many people who work within the industry:
Before releasing a statement, we felt it was critically important to wait for law enforcement investigators to determine the facts surrounding what exactly transpired last week in Las Vegas. First and foremost, we extend our thoughts and prayers to the victims of this horrific event. We would also like to extend our sincerest appreciation to all of the first responders, both professional and volunteer, that worked so diligently to save lives that fateful night. Our world is a better place because of men and women like you.
As we struggle to make sense of the senseless, it is abundantly clear that a simple solution to protect our society from irrational acts of evil does not exist. Whatever your political affiliation may be, we all want to find the right solution to prevent future attacks. However, as we debate the proper solutions, one thing is certain: exploiting a tragedy to promote blatant falsehoods and lies about an irrelevant topic is not only unbecoming, it is repulsive.
Within hours of the shooting, numerous high profile politicians and pundits began making unsubstantiated claims that the events would have been worse had a suppressor been used. Shame on them! They politicized an act of pure evil because they believed that their dishonesty would go unchecked, and that they could shape future discussions on the Hearing Protection Act with disparaging conjecture rather than fact. As a nation, while we search for answers to such an appalling event, we must not cloud the issue further with wild and erroneous speculation. Thankfully, this time, their deceit based on willful ignorance did not stand.
We would like to offer our sincerest thank you to the journalists who did their job and reported the facts about suppressors. Here are some examples:
Politifact: No, gun silencers wouldn’t have worsened the Las Vegas shooting
Washington Post Fact Checker: Two Pinocchio’s to Senator Tim Kaine
The Daily Signal: Here’s What a Gun Fired With a ‘Silencer’ Really Sounds Like
Time: Gun Control Advocates Are Speaking Up About a Bill Making it Easier to Buy a Silencer
To those who continue to report fraudulent misrepresentations about suppressors, we ask simply that you do your job and report the facts. If you need assistance finding those facts, feel free to contact us at any time. We would be more than happy to show you what suppressors are and are not capable of in reality.
We understand that the ASA’s public statement trends on the political side, and we at TFB always want to be about “Firearms, Not Politics,” but it is worth giving the ASA’s voice some amplification when our industry comes under fire.
