Silencers for Texas Hunting

[RECIT]

"Anyone know the thinking behind not allowing suppressors to hunt game?"

I believe that the original concern was with poaching.

I believe poaching is a valid concern. I also think population control and noise pollution are valid reasons for using a suppressor.

[PBratton]

"Anyone know the thinking behind not allowing suppressors to hunt game?"

I believe that the original concern was with poaching.

I believe poaching is a valid concern. I also think population control and noise pollution are valid reasons for using a suppressor.

And those that are going to poach, are going to poach anyway, silencer law or no... Let's not make criminals out of those hunters that are trying to follow the law.

[mr surveyor]

"Anyone know the thinking behind not allowing suppressors to hunt game?"

I believe that the original concern was with poaching.

I believe poaching is a valid concern. I also think population control and noise pollution are valid reasons for using a suppressor.

using suppressors for population control is a bit excessive, isn't it?

[PBratton]

"Anyone know the thinking behind not allowing suppressors to hunt game?"

I believe that the original concern was with poaching.

I believe poaching is a valid concern. I also think population control and noise pollution are valid reasons for using a suppressor.

using suppressors for population control is a bit excessive, isn't it?

Hmm, I'm sure there are some politicians that would disagree, (behind closed doors, of course), but, let assume he was talking about the GAME population.

[alvins]

i dont see the big deal with surpressors period. I just bought one and i have a 6 month waiting period on average to wait for atf approval.im in harris county so i paid an attorney to write up a trust for me; since the sheriff is afraid a surpressor is going to not get him elected again if someone founds out he signed the form. its not like millions of people are going to begin buying surpressors now.

[ajwakeboarder]

People will poach without suppressors. I almost got shot by some guys poaching off of our land. They were shooting at the tree my blind was behind from a truck on the road. It didn't make me feel any safer to be able to hear the shots that were flying past me. It also didn't seem to concern them that someone might hear the shots either. They didn't leave until my dad and my Uncle came flying up the road at them.

[03Lightningrocks]

People will speed, even though there are speed limit signs. That doesn't mean the answer is to take all the speed limit signs down. Poaching is the reason for the "no suppressor" laws. Poaching is a huge problem and making it easier for people to poach is not they way to correct the problem. It is illegal to hunt certain game animals at night. A suppressor would make this activity much easier.

[mr surveyor]

I'd doubt very seriously that poaching has/had anything to do with the laws concerning silencers/suppressors.

[03Lightningrocks]

I'd doubt very seriously that poaching has/had anything to do with the laws concerning silencers/suppressors.

What do you think the reason is?

Edit to ad an afterthought... I realized I did not say in my post that I was speaking only of why suppressors are illegal for hunting. I assumed "while hunting" was the topic of the thread. Suppressor laws in general are a whole different topic.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

People will speed, even though there are speed limit signs. That doesn't mean the answer is to take all the speed limit signs down. Poaching is the reason for the "no suppressor" laws. Poaching is a huge problem and making it easier for people to poach is not they way to correct the problem. It is illegal to hunt certain game animals at night. A suppressor would make this activity much easier.

I like your thought process. People will murder, even though there are laws agaunst it. Murder is a huge problem and making it easier for people to murder is not the way to correct the problem. It is illegal to murder people any time of day, guns make this much easier. Maybe guns should be outlawed.

[03Lightningrocks]

People will speed, even though there are speed limit signs. That doesn't mean the answer is to take all the speed limit signs down. Poaching is the reason for the "no suppressor" laws. Poaching is a huge problem and making it easier for people to poach is not they way to correct the problem. It is illegal to hunt certain game animals at night. A suppressor would make this activity much easier.

I like your thought process. People will murder, even though there are laws agaunst it. Murder is a huge problem and making it easier for people to murder is not the way to correct the problem. It is illegal to murder people any time of day, guns make this much easier. Maybe guns should be outlawed.

That is an interesting thought. I am surprised you think that way. There is ZERO correlation in that statement... BTW. Guns don't necesarily make it easier to kill people. I am not sure how you got from speed limit signs to gun control. If I used the same reasoning as you, I would have to say... nothing should be against the law...otherwise... guns would be outlawed...

[ELB]

I simply do not see "poaching" as a justification for continuing to ban legitimate hunters from using suppressors or silencers. This is exactly the same logic in banning handguns -- because bad guys use them, we must prevent everyone from using them. You'd make a bigger dent in the poaching problem by banning ATVs or four wheel drive truck -- or even vehicles in general, most poachers seem to be pretty lazy (lots of "shooting from roadway" citations).

I took a stroll through Shannon Tompkin's Outdoors column at Chron.com (The Houston Chronicle). He likes to write up accounts of the game wardens' nabbing poachers, and has quite a few stories. Out of about three dozen I read, three involved somebody actually hearing gunshots, and in two of those cases, the poachers were already under observation by law enforcement because of their behavior. In one case some passers-by actually heard a gunshot, went to investigate -- and snapped photos of the poachers as they fled.

By far the biggest source of nabbing poachers was someone (primarily a landowner) observing someone acting suspiciously and and calling the cops. Another frequent source is a state trooper or county mounty stopping a vehicle and either seeing a large amount of blood in the back or an actual carcass (Seems people who poach also can't follow other rules relating to speed, DWI, car registration, etc). Finding a carcasss and either observing it for returning poachers or following a blood trail seems pretty common as well. Simply stopping by a campsite and asking questions seems to turn up poachers, or at least people who can't seem to match up their kill with the proper tag.

Yeah, silencers might make it a little easier for some poachers, but it will make their jail terms more significant too -- I somehow don't see a guy who can't even get the right hunting license and deer tags springing for for the NFA tax and the lawyer fees for a trust. (which most would probably have to do, since a number of the ones caught already have a history, and I doubt the local sheriff would sign of on their NFA paperwork...)

[rm9792]

I thought the law came about as a result of hysteria about them in the 20s and 30s? Maybe gangster use during Prohibition?

[03Lightningrocks]

Just to be clear. I have yet to say whether I thought suppressors should be allowed for deer hunting. I was simply pointing out what the reasoning was behind the original law. Many years ago, poaching, while utilizing a suppressor was a serious problem. Poachers used sound suppressors to help keep the clandestine activity quite. The laws were passed in an effort to slow down poaching while utilizing a suppressor.

One cannot compare this to murder. Killng a white tailed deer or an elk is not the same crime as murder and is not seen in the same light by the majority of people. It is presently illegal to hunt and kill a white tailed deer while using a suppressor. It is presently illegal to hunt and kill a human with a handgun. One can presently obtain a suppressor by filling out the proper paperwork and one can presently obtain a handgun by filling out the proper paperwork. One cannot(legally) use said suppressor to hunt certain "game animals" and one cannot(legally) use a handgun to murder a person.

There are many laws that apply to hunting that have no impact on our constitutional rights but if twisted into a pretzel, we could all pretend it does. For instance the rules on magazine capacity. One cannot have more than a five round magazine capacity in a rifle while deer hunting. One cannot hunt "game" animals with a .22. One cannot hunt "game" animals at night. There are more.

Hunting laws are all put in place in an effort to protect wild game from decimation. That is why there are bag limits on certain wild game animals. Hunting laws are also put into place to protect hunters from each other. Do they all work all the time...no...but if they just allowed us all to hunt as we wished with no rules or laws, there may not be any wild game to hunt at some point. We would probably have more hunting accidents.

Keep in mind folks. The Texas hunting areas are usually overcrowded with hunters. Especially on the precious opening weekend. Some of the rules are to lesson the chance that we might accidently shoot each other. I have hunted areas where you will see more hunters walking around the woods than deer...no kidding... it is crazy out there.

[03Lightningrocks]

I simply do not see "poaching" as a justification for continuing to ban legitimate hunters from using suppressors or silencers. This is exactly the same logic in banning handguns

Not everybody would drive through a school zone at 95 MPH, but because some folks might, we have rules regarding how fast one can drive in a school zone, yet we don't ban cars. Not everyone will murder someone with a handgun, yet we have a law forbidding it. Suppressors are not banned... hunting with one is. Cars are not banned...running over people with one is. Handguns are not banned...killing a person with one is.

I am curious. Why would anyone need or want to use a suppressor for hunting white tailed deer? After 40 years of hunting, I have yet to see a deer duck after I fired my rifle. I have even watched deer stand around after I shot one of their comrads. I remember one deer season, my son and I killed four deer in about 15 minutes. They didn't even flinch when we fired. Heck... they would step over their buddy to keep eating clover. A suppressor does nothing to assist in hunting any game animal.

The only possible reason I can think of for using a suppressor would be to keep people from knowing where you are shooting from or that you are shooting. Why would anyone legally hunting want to keep his or her activity private?