When it comes to firearms, it’s important to resolve any fallacies present in modern society. One of the most common misconceptions is with suppressors. The National Hearing Protection Act recently removed them from the list of heavy regulation items. This means you don’t need to get a tax stamp from the ATF in order to purchase one.
What They Aren’t
The attachment is often referred to ask a silencer. This is a bad name for them, as they do not make the shots silence. Too often in modern media are suppressors portrayed as total sound dampening, allowing gunshots to go unnoticed meter meters away. They still are quite noisy, just not AS noisy. Your standard gunshot produces around 140 to 160 dB. Since hearing damage can occur above 140 dB, its recommended you wear earplugs or headphones when firing. Depending on what caliber you fire and what gear you’re using, a suppressor will reduce this by 20 to 40 dB.
Even if you managed to drop the sound to 100 dB, that’s still louder than most garbage disposals, food blenders, and trains (from 20m away).
Suppressors are intended to be a way to help reduce just how loud firing your gun is, in an effort to reduce the risk of permanent hearing damage. Should you invest in a suppressor? Yes! Are they silent? No.