by NRA HLF Staff - Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Silencers are legal. That's long been the mantra of industry leader SilencerCo, which offers a map on its website that tracks the states where suppressors are legal to own and use. Last week the company filled in yet another blank as Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed a bill into law legalizing the use of suppressors in the Hawkeye State.
The bill was signed at the Brownells retail store in Grinnell—quite fitting considering Brownells is one of world's largest suppliers of firearm accessories. The new law takes effect immediately and makes Iowa the 42nd state to legalize suppressors for personal use—and the 39th state to legalize them for hunting.
The American Suppressor Association (ASA) applauded Branstad's decision, saying, “The legalization of suppressors in Iowa is a tremendous victory for the law abiding citizens of the Hawkeye State,” said ASA President and Executive Director Knox Williams. “For the past three years, the ASA has worked alongside the Iowa Firearms Coalition, the National Rifle Association, Rep. Windschitl, and, this year, Rep. Baxter to get this legislation passed so that the sportsmen and women of Iowa could use these benign accessories to protect their hearing while in the field and at the range.”
To celebrate the bill's passage and signing, the ASA is hosting a public suppressor shoot at the Big Springs Shooting Complex on April 16.
With only eight states to go to reach nationwide suppressor legalization, Iowa's decision to legalize them is a step in the right direction. To celebrate the bill's passage and signing, the ASA is hosting a public suppressor shoot at the Big Springs Shooting Complex on April 16.
Alongside the ASA and companies like SilencerCo, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has been a champion for legalizing suppressor use. In October 2015, NRA-ILA backed the Hearing Protection Act (H.R. 3799), sponsored by U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ-05), calling for the removal of suppressors from regulations established the National Firearms Act of 1934.