FL: Gun Mufflers now Legal for Hunting Game

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted yesterday to remove an antiquated regulation that prevented hunters from protecting their hearing.   The regulation banned the use of gun mufflers for the taking of game.  From the nraila:

Following the suppressor vote, the Commission also voted to authorize an Executive Order to lift the ban immediately and allow hunting with suppressors to begin at once. 

Following that vote, Executive Order # EO 14-32 was signed. Using suppressor-equipped rifles, pistols and shotguns is now legal for all hunting in Florida.

Map from American Suppressor Association.

Using gun mufflers, sometimes referred to as suppressors or "silencers", has never been illegal in Florida.   For some poorly documented reason, language was inserted into the Florida fish and game regulations in 1957, to make hunting with gun mufflers illegal.  Today, 21 November, 2014, that language was removed.  Now 33 states allow gun mufflers for all legal hunting.  One state, Montana, only allows gun mufflers for hunting varmints.  There are 11 states that do not allow ordinary citizens to own gun mufflers, and five that do not allow them for hunting.

In Europe, gun mufflers are far less controlled than in the United States.  In most countries, their use is considered to be good manners.

 ©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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