Gun owners love to debate. Fight even. On internet forums and social media pages you’ll find hundreds of gun owners throwing out their opinions like punches in a heavyweight championship over who makes the best rifles (Black Rain Ordnance OBVIOUSLY), which calibers are best, etc. 

All this information and opinions can be useful but a few debates are not worth wasting your time arguing over.

“THEY AREN’T SILENCERS! THEY’RE SUPPRESSORS! THEY DON’T SILENCE ANYTHING!”  

Torrents of abuse rain down on people who, at least in the eyes of the aggressor, misname those glorious report reducing cans. But is it really worth the time to “correct” someones nomenclature in this instance?  

The “magazine” vs “clip”  debate is an easy one. They are two distinctly different items. But the “Silencer/Suppressor” debate is a waste of time. 

The inventor of the Silencer (I’ve chosen my side.) Hiram Percy Maxim, chose to patent his invention as the “Maxim Silencer,” likewise, all the official paperwork you have to fill out to own one lists the items as “silencers” so in the eyes of the Government, and the inventor, “Silencer” is the correct term. 

MAXIM SILENCER AD FROM 1906

BUUUUT…They don’t actually SILENCE the weapon. So maybe “Suppressor” is the more correct term? 

This debate on a Facebook page could go on for hours. Hours that could be spent writing your representatives in support of removing Silencers from the list of NFA regulated items. Hours spent supporting bills like The Hearing Protection Act, which would remove Silencers from the NFA Restricted items and lift the $200 tax required to own one. 

So if you’re one of those people who always has to “be right” keep arguing with strangers on the internet over which name is correct. But if you want to do something good for the country, for gun owners, and for your ears. Write or call your congressman and express your support for the 2nd Amendment, for eliminating an infringing tax, and for the Hearing Protection Act.

Besides, “What’s in a name? That which we call a nose by any other name would still smell.”  

The content of this article is the opinion of it’s author and does not necessarily represent the opinions of Black Rain Ordnance Inc.