Silence kills: Now is the time to speak up against deadly gun silencers 

In 2019, a gunman shot and killed 12 people in a Virginia Beach municipal building. His semiautomatic weapon was fitted with a silencer, making the gunshots sound, to one survivor, “like a nail gun.”

If the shots had been louder — if the people inside had been given even 30 more seconds of warning — lives could have perhaps been saved. But muffled sounds from the silencer created confusion and, ultimately, death. 

Silencers are dangerous. Now, they’re more accessible than ever. 

Within President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was a little-noticed but dangerous provision eliminating the $200 federal tax requirement on firearm silencers. Sold as a win for freedom and self-defense, this repeal does nothing to make ordinary Americans safer. Instead, it makes it easier to acquire deadly tools that muffle the sound of gunfire, and can make shootings harder to detect and survive. 

On July 4, Trump signed the so-called “big beautiful bill,” a 1,200-page piece of legislation that overhauled taxes, took down social programs, and included a long list of far-right priorities. Buried within it was a provision that eliminated the federal tax on gun silencers, and stripped away regulations under the National Firearms Act. 

For nearly a century, silencers, also called suppressors, were subject to a $200 tax and required a federal registration process with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The goal wasn’t to ban them outright, but to treat them with caution and scrutiny.  

By removing the tax, the bill treats them like ordinary firearm accessories. With the federal tax removed, the financial and procedural barriers that once slowed down silencer purchases are gone, making it easier and potentially faster to obtain them. In effect, this policy turns silencers into impulse buys available with minimal oversight, even in states with already loose gun laws. 

Supporters of the provision framed it as an effort to cut red tape, and to fully express Second Amendment freedoms. But in reality, it was a quiet win for the gun lobby — one that came at the cost of long-standing public safety protections. 

Silencers don’t make guns completely silent, but they do make shootings harder to hear. That extra delay of seconds of confusion, lost sound or disbelief can cost lives. 

Proponents of silencer deregulation argue that suppressors reduce hearing damage for recreational shooters and make gun ranges less disruptive to neighbors. They frame the tax and registration process as bureaucratic overreach that burdens lawful gun owners. 

But these talking points ignore the ultimate threat to public safety that silencers carry: people have, and will continue to, die because of easy access to silencers. Further, with the removal of federal tax on silencers, the gun lobby is better equipped to argue in court against any and all government regulation of silencers. 

Even if silencers have some legitimate uses, removing the federal tax and treating them like common firearm accessories opens the door to widespread abuse. Responsible gun owners can still protect their hearing with earmuffs. Communities can’t protect themselves from gunfire they never hear coming.

This repeal didn’t happen by accident. It slipped through quietly, buried in a massive bill, with little debate and even less public awareness. But that doesn’t mean the story ends here.

What happens when silencers become easier to buy than ever before? What role can we play in making sure our communities stay safe, and our voices stay heard?

Maybe it starts with a message to a senator, a petition, or a post. Maybe it’s showing up at a town hall, or supporting groups already doing the work: groups like Brady United Against Gun Violence, Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Giffords, and Sandy Hook Promise. 

We don’t all have the same tools. But we all have a voice. And in the face of policies that turn down the volume on violence, maybe the most powerful thing we can do is refuse to stay quiet. If our leaders won’t raise the alarm, we have to. Because the more we let silence spread, the more dangerous this country becomes. 

It’s time to make some noise and address this hidden upheaval of public safety. 

Sally Young is a senior at Dartmouth College studying English and Public Policy.