Media Contact: Georgia Seltzer, (202) 822-8200 x104, gseltzer@vpc.org

Campaign Research Notes – May 15, 2025

In recent years, a top priority for the gun lobby and firearms industry has been to expand the market for the sale of firearm silencers as a new profit center. Right now the NRA and its financial partners in the gun industry are pushing legislation on Capitol Hill to de-regulate silencers, which currently come under the more restrictive sales criteria of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), the federal law that also covers machine guns and short-barreled rifles.

This marketing shift was on full display at the public show of new guns that’s the centerpiece of the NRA’s annual meeting, which was held last month in Atlanta.

There was everything from silencer manufacturers…

to “silencer ready” pistols sold by gun manufacturers…

to companies that promise to streamline the NFA paperwork (including heightened background check requirements) necessary for silencer purchases.

Two bills, (the “Hearing Protection Act” and the “Silencers Helping Us Save Hearing” (SHUSH) Act), are currently pending on Capitol Hill to deregulate firearm silencers. In their public statements, proponents of the bills would like the public and policymakers to believe that silencers are innocuous devices used merely to protect the hearing of shooters, including children. Left unstated is the fact that deregulating silencers would threaten public safety while allowing for the creation of a new category of firearm—guns with integral silencers—with the goal of reselling current gun owners while hopefully appealing to potential new customers.

For more information on silencers, see the May 2025 VPC study Silencers: A Threat to Public Safety.

The Campaign for Gun Industry Accountability is an ongoing project of the Violence Policy Center.