Keefe Report: Listen Up— It's Called the Hearing Protection Act

by
posted on October 29, 2015
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
silencerco.jpg
If you drive a '73 Plymouth Fury III down Main Street after dropping the back half of its exhaust system, you likely will get a ticket. It is a loud, concussive experience—until you put a muffler on it. Then it is just a Sunday drive with a rustbelt classic. But try and reduce the report of a firearm with more than century old technology and you not only need to pay $200 and undergo a lengthy application process, including fingerprints, photographs and a visit to your local sheriff's office—all in the interest of keeping the sound of gunfire from damaging your and others' hearing.

In the 1910s and 1920s, American Rifleman's pages were filled with advertisements for the Maxim Silencer Company. Not Sir Hiram Maxim, but his son Hiram P. Maxim, who was a quite a prolific inventor and a dedicated shooter as well. Arms historian David Truby penned an excellent article for us back in the 1980s entitled "Dr. Shush."  

Suppressors—none completely eliminates all sounds of of firing—were grouped in with machine guns and sawed-off shotguns under the National Firearms Act of 1934. But do they really belong in the same category as a machine gun? All they do is reduce the number of decibels produced by a gun shot. And that reduction can vary, but the bottom line is that they make guns "ear safe" without affecting how they perform otherwise. In other countries—including those with very restrictive gun laws—suppressors are considered the polite thing to do. Shooting unsuppressed is frowned upon; it's simply rude. And in an unusual bit of irony, a suppressor you can buy at the hardware story in other countries takes six months and the permission of the Federal Government here.

Well, instead of talking about preventing hearing damage, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) is actually doing something about it. Last week he introduced H.R. 3799, the Hearing Protection Act (HPA).  which can do something for the shooters of today and tomorrow. It can prevent them from becoming deaf like me.

For more on suppressors and how they work, please enjoy the following articles:

Suppressors: Taking the Bang Out of Shooting
The Real Scoop on Sound Suppression
Sound Suppressors 101
Suppressors for Hearing and the Shooting Sports
Q&A With the American Suppressor Association
Suppressors: What We Can Learn from the UK Experience





Latest

Gotw Wilson Combat Divison 77 Project 1 Web
Gotw Wilson Combat Divison 77 Project 1 Web

Gun Of The Week: Wilson Combat Division 77 Project 1

Join American Rifleman staff on the range in this video to get a closer look at Wilson Combat’s somewhat cryptically named “Division 77 Project 1.” 

The Armed Citizen® July 18, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Review: POF-USA LMR BASE Rifle

The Patriot Ordnance Factory LMR Base offers a .308 Win. chambering in a lightweight, AR-15-size package, which makes it a capable platform for today's new gun owner. And it comes at a fair price.

2025 Accessory Of The Year: Wyoming Sight Drifter

For each of the past 23 years, the editors of American Rifleman have convened to select our top picks for the past year’s best and most innovative products. Here are the most recent winners.

Henry Donates Rifles To Support Young Leukemia Victim

Henry Repeating Arms has donated a limited run of 50 “Team Keane” Golden Boy .22 lever-action rifles to support 13-year-old Keane Rhodes of Universal City, Texas, who is currently undergoing aggressive treatment for ALL T-cell leukemia.

Rifleman Review: Springfield Armory Echelon

Springfield Armory introduced its Echelon in 2023, bringing a modernized, chassis-style, striker-fired handgun to the market that has since seen several notable line extensions.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.