OKLAHOMA CITY Hunters would be able to muffle the sound of their gunshots under a bill filed by an Oklahoma City senator.
Republican Sen. Steve Russell has filed a bill that would do away with existing language that prohibits the use of a silencer on a hunting rifle. The bill will be considered when the legislative session begins in February. Russell said the measure, Senate Bill 1275, is meant to protect the rights of rural landowners and their neighbors.
"You have cases where people have owned land for generations and now there are populated areas springing up around them and they're afraid to use their rifle because the county sheriff will be called on them," Russell said.
The use of suppressors is often associated with criminals in movies carrying out mob hits, but their use is widespread in hunting in Europe, Russell said. Muffling the sound of gunfire also helps protect hunters' hearing. Increasing the use of silencers won't encourage illegal activity, Russell said.
"The criminals will continue to be criminals," he said. "The guy who poaches is going to break the law anyway."
Getting a firearm silencer requires an additional background check and a special permit, said Miles Hall, president and founder of H&H Gun Range in Oklahoma City. People who get a suppressor for their guns must submit fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the county sheriff must sign off on a permit for a suppressor.
"In all the years we've done suppressors, we've never had a denial," Hall said. "People don't go through all that drama if they aren't clean."
Hall said silencers are useful in hunting feral hogs. The hogs are destructive and often scatter at the sound of a gunshot.
"The joke is always, 'If you had a silencer, you could maybe get two of them,' " he said.
Hall said the use of silencers was restricted in the 1930s as a way to cut down on illegal hunting.
The sound of gunshots can be useful in catching people who are hunting illegally, said Tony Clark, a game warden in Creek County and the president of the Oklahoma Game Wardens Association.
Clark said wardens sometimes follow the sound of gunshots at night to catch hunters who may be shining lights into the eyes of deer to stop them from moving.
"It's not a huge tool, but it does put us in the area where there may be some illegal activity," Clark said. "And sometimes it's just a farmer shooting a skunk."
Republican Sen. Steve Russell has filed a bill that would do away with existing language that prohibits the use of a silencer on a hunting rifle. The bill will be considered when the legislative session begins in February. Russell said the measure, Senate Bill 1275, is meant to protect the rights of rural landowners and their neighbors.
"You have cases where people have owned land for generations and now there are populated areas springing up around them and they're afraid to use their rifle because the county sheriff will be called on them," Russell said.
The use of suppressors is often associated with criminals in movies carrying out mob hits, but their use is widespread in hunting in Europe, Russell said. Muffling the sound of gunfire also helps protect hunters' hearing. Increasing the use of silencers won't encourage illegal activity, Russell said.
"The criminals will continue to be criminals," he said. "The guy who poaches is going to break the law anyway."
Getting a firearm silencer requires an additional background check and a special permit, said Miles Hall, president and founder of H&H Gun Range in Oklahoma City. People who get a suppressor for their guns must submit fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the county sheriff must sign off on a permit for a suppressor.
"In all the years we've done suppressors, we've never had a denial," Hall said. "People don't go through all that drama if they aren't clean."
Hall said silencers are useful in hunting feral hogs. The hogs are destructive and often scatter at the sound of a gunshot.
"The joke is always, 'If you had a silencer, you could maybe get two of them,' " he said.
Hall said the use of silencers was restricted in the 1930s as a way to cut down on illegal hunting.
The sound of gunshots can be useful in catching people who are hunting illegally, said Tony Clark, a game warden in Creek County and the president of the Oklahoma Game Wardens Association.
Clark said wardens sometimes follow the sound of gunshots at night to catch hunters who may be shining lights into the eyes of deer to stop them from moving.
"It's not a huge tool, but it does put us in the area where there may be some illegal activity," Clark said. "And sometimes it's just a farmer shooting a skunk."
