In a March 14 column, Third Way activists attempted to scare the wits out of USNews readers by claiming “an influx of silencers could make (mass shootings) even more deadly.”
Authors Lanae Erickson Hatalsky and Nathan Kasai, using the disingenuous misnomer “silencers” to refer to suppressors, misled readers by intimating the devices silence muzzle blasts, instead of merely reducing the noise level to that of a jackhammer. By their reasoning, we should remove mufflers from cars so we can hear them approach before we cross the street.
They also implied that suppressors endanger law enforcement with the same flawed argument. If criminals valued suppressors, they could be making them cheaply out of oil filters—but on average, suppressors were used in only one serious crime per year from 1995 to 2005. They also dismiss concern for the health of hunters and shooters by suggesting we all just wear ear protection.
Third Way calls itself a “centrist think tank,” but their website supports every sort of gun control imaginable.
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