ATLANTA — Hunters would be able to use silencers to harvest deer and other game under legislation the Senate Natural Resources Committee approved Wednesday.
Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee, told the committee he sponsored Senate Bill 301 at the request of sheriffs who said it would eliminate half their noise complaints. The main use for the silencers will be to quiet guns while hunting wild hogs.
“We have a growing problem with feral hogs,” Bulloch said.
A sow can produce three litters a year for a total of 25 to 30 piglets that will reach maturity in a year and bear their own litters. The Department of Natural Resources issues permits for hunting them at night to limit their number and reduce the nuisance they cause in subdivisions on the fringe of wild habitat.
“If you had a silencer on that gun, the opportunity is to kill more than one because the silencer doesn’t scare them off,” he said.
Noise suppresser may be a better term for the $300 device that screws into the end of the barrel of a rifle or shotgun because it doesn’t eliminate all sound the way Hollywood depicts them, notes Chairman Ross Tolleson, R-Perry.
“When people think about a silencer, they think about the movies,” he said.
Georgia has about a half-dozen silencer manufacturers. If the state prohibition is repealed, using one legally will still require a federal permit and a gunsmith to thread the barrel to receive it, totaling about $1,000, according to Bulloch.
Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville, sought assurance from Bulloch that the penalty for using an unauthorized silencer was more than a three-year prohibition against getting a hunting permit.
“We’ve already proven they have no regard for the law,” Ginn said. But he agreed the existing $10,000 fine was sufficient. “I don’t mind getting into their pocketbook.”
No one spoke in opposition to the bill before the committee voted unanimously to support it. After a stop in the Rules Committee, it will face a vote by the full Senate in the next week or so and then on to the House.
Typical government tactics. First they authorize the use of silencers, BUT you have to apply to the government for a license to use it, and if you don't get a license to use the perfectly legal device, they want to fine you $10,000 to do something that is otherwise perfectly legal.
LL, I understand where you are coming from but we have to obtain a license to drive a car, a special license to ride a motorcycle, a special license to drive a tractor trailer, we must obtain a license to fish and hunt, how is this any different. All these are perfectly legal but we still are required to purchase a license to use them. Is it the amount of the fine that bother's you?
Silencers do not kill living things (unless you forced a silencer down someone's throat and choked them to death). Therefore, you should not have to obtain a license to obtain and use a silencer. Government has grown to the extent that they think they have to license and regulate everything.
The deal with the license is that on the application, you waive your rights regarding search and seizure. Read the fine print folks!!!
Sounds like Sen. Frank Ginn is sorta "anti-gun". 10K for a violation? And who is he referring to as "they"? (We’ve already proven they have no regard for the law). Am I , a gun owner, being discriminated upon by this jerk?
Here is a good article about the history of silencer legislation:
nnaugusta, I thought the same thing, who is "they"? Who doesnt have regard for law? LL, I agree, a license should not be required.
Hunting with silencers will be dangerous to others who are in the same woods, hiking, horseback riding, etc. It doesn't even sound like good sportsmanship.
As to the license, I absolutely agree with it and the fine is perfect. There needs to be a way to track those who use them in the same way guns are tracked.
I too like the idea of knowing where the hunters are by the sound of their gunshots. And I find this justification a bit weak:
Sen. John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee, told the committee he sponsored Senate Bill 301 at the request of sheriffs who said it would eliminate half their noise complaints.
Wah. We need a state law to reduce noise complaints for south Georgia sheriffs? Come on. Also, look at this quote:
The main use for the silencers will be to quiet guns while hunting wild hogs.
Here is exposed in its naked state the mindset of a legislator — expressing his optimism about what the "main use" of some proposed legislation will be. Sen. Bulloch has not bothered to look into the unintended consequences of any legislation he has voted for in his life.
I think logging someones name in a database when the silencer is bought is about enough prerequisite. The feral hog issue is real and will get out of hand if not curtailed immediately. Deer habitat and farms will suffer profoundly if the beasts are allowed to populate w/o strict control. Think in terms of 100 lb rabbits running rampant on the countryside. Not to mention those little tusks can hurt. They call them RAZORbacks for a reason. If someone is going to shoot something they shouldn't, the availability of a silencer isn't the deciding factor.
I have killed deer with a 30 06 rifle and when there were other deer around most of the time they didn't even move. They usually moved off when they wanted to or when I got impatient and moved. Bet it would be the same with a hog. Do you really think they know what a rifle blast means? LOL!
Don't bother with facts or logic, Sweet Son. Sen. Bulloch knows best. You just watch. One year after this law goes into effect, Georgia's feral hog "problem" will be a thing of the past and all will be right with the world.
People always have a justification to get what they want....noise complaints, wild hogs. Guns being fired is a noise we need to hear.
If guns scare off the wild hogs, use a bow. And sweet son is right, I can't get the deer to move on even waving and yelling to them.
Just so I understand, those that figure the passing of the law is for alterior motive, are you trying to suggest that lawmakers want to make it easier for a person to get away with murder?
I suppose there is an issue here but it's not the above stated. I think the issue is the fact that you have to pay to use one of the little dohickies. No?
What are these silencers? I have heard of suppressors. I think what most people don't know is that most firearms are still loud enough to be heard when using a suppressor. Using some subsonic rounds and wet/dry conditions of the suppressor also can decrease the amount of noise more. They reduce the noise to where it won't damage your hearing while firing guns without ear protection. Don't believe me? Look it up on youtube.
I think Markie Mark used one in the movie Shooter.
Willow just curious as to how guns are tracked?
Common.sense: You wouldn't be trying to ask me a trick question would you? My mistake on believing that in GA, over the counter gun sales would be registered. Since I knew there was a required background check, I incorrectly assumed that the weapon was registered by purchaser and serial number. Seems to me this would be a very useful requirement. Not sure how it is handled in other states. Maybe you would care to enlighten me.
"Hunting with silencers will be dangerous to others who are in the same woods, hiking, horseback riding, etc. It doesn't even sound like good sportsmanship."
Huh? How do silenced weapons make their bullets/pellets seek out hikers and horses versus regular weapons? Please run that science by me, I must have been absent that day at school.
oldfella, I didn't say that silencers controlled bullet direction, just sound; but you knew that didn't you.... Surely, you don't think hunters always fire accurately or that a stray bullet hasn't caused injuries and deaths. Since I spend time in the woods (my own and public) on horseback, I do know the value of knowing what is going on around me.
Any more questions?
I'd like them too, LL, if they didn't eat up my garden and landscaping. Too much development...no place to go. Poor, deer.
Oldfella, let me run this by you. There are 130 miles of bike trails in the area through public lands that are also used by hunters in game season. We cyclists are instructed to wear orange and many do. A couple of years ago I was riding the Bartram Trail alongside the lake one afternoon when I heard BOOM! BOOM! not more than a couple of hundred yards ahead. I just turned around and rode in the other direction. If that guy had been shooting a suppressed weapon I may not have heard him at all and rode through his line of fire; or I would have heard a milder pop and not had a good idea of what it was.
Little Lamb says; "Silencers do not kill living things (unless you forced a silencer down someone's throat and choked them to death). Therefore, you should not have to obtain a license to obtain and use a silencer."
Lawmakers made the license law for suppressors because of the criminal element who were using them illegally. Silencers may benefit some hunters, but not all. I agree with having to license silencers, mostly because it is beneficial to our wildlife programs. Every license sold, our state will receive a portion for wildlife conservation. I'm for that!
Georgia has a requirement for a "Hunter's Education Program." Anyone buying a hunting license in our state, must have successfully completed this course, in order to obtain a hunting license. The course covers all manner of safety issues. Hunters quickly forget what they are taught after so long a time. A hunter's refresher course should be added as a requirement. Safety is too important to forget, when you are handling firearms capable of killing or wounding people.
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