ASA works to expand silencer ownership rights in Minnesota

[caption id="attachment_61750" align="alignnone" width="300"] Left to right Owen Miller (Gemtech), Michael Williams (ASA), Dave Matheny (Silencer Shop) and Knox Williams (ASA)[/caption] On May 7, American Suppressor Association (ASA) President Knox Williams drafted a letter to Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton offering to clear up some misconceptions on silencer use and ownership. Governor Dayton believes that “to allow gunshots to be silenced increases the danger to law enforcement officers, and to innocent bystanders.” If you have shot with a silencer, you know that they reduce noise to hearing-safe levels and do not make the sound of a gunshot “Hollywood quiet.” In reality, the sound of a gunshot is still heard, especially when using a center-fire rifle. To help clear up these misconceptions, Knox offered to take the Governor to a silencer demo, as he has done with other politicians. The ASA and Silencer Shop believe that change starts with education. Governor Steve Bullock of Montana believed that silencers could completely silence the rapport of a gunshot when he vetoed a suppressor hunting bill in 2013. However, upon becoming educated about silencers, Bullock approved legislation that allowed hunting with silencers this year, stating: “It is time for Montana to join the clear majority of states that allow the use of suppressors for hunting. All of the western states do so, except for California. The public perception of suppressors as the same thing as silencers, where the assassin quietly dispatches his victim, no longer holds true. Suppressors mitigate the sound of a shot, but do not silence it.” We join with a large number of Minnesotans urging Governor Dayton to accept the ASA’s offer and come to a silencer demo to learn the realities of silencers, and hopefully change his opinion as the Governor of Montana has done. If you live in Minnesota, please urge the Governor to support the legislature to make silencers legal.