I knew this was coming as soon as reports came out that the Virginia Beach chumbucket used a suppressor. Here’s one example of many.
Why the shooting in Virginia Beach sets an ominous precedent
But the Virginia Beach killer seemed to want the anonymity of silence, a tool of the coward, not one seeking fame or a blaze of glory. None of the videos or manifestos we’ve seen from New Zealand to Las Vegas appear to be part of the Virginia Beach story. The killer wanted silence.
If he wanted silence, he should have used something silent; maybe a machete. Even suppressed, a .45 (reportedly used) is hardly silent. The Obsidian 45 suppressor, billing itself as “the Quietest 45 Pistol Suppressor on the Market,” claims a “mere” 129.3 dB.
129.3dB. That comes in just under the sound of a jet fighter taking off on afterburner, and louder than a thunderclap, chainsaw, car horn, jackhammer, and even a DC-8 airliner.
I suspect people could hear the asshole’s shots. Oh. Wait…
“We kept hearing gunfire,” Banton said. “We were trying to keep as quiet as possible.”
They did hear it, and recognized it.
A .45 shot is around 157 dB in loudness. A good suppressor can reduce that by as much as 32 dB, leaving a loud noise. The point of suppressors is usually hearing protection and safety. A suppressor can do the job of ear muffs, without reducing your awareness of the environment surrounding you.*
Fearmongering Juliette Kayyem might be a smart lady who is knowledgeable of international security, but she demonstrably knows zilch about firearms and suppressors.
One report has it that the scumbag prepared for his spree by brushing his teeth. Perhaps Kayyem wants toothbrushes outlawed because folks in the building really couldn’t hear that. Or car mufflers, because I understand he drove to work.
* I know someone will bring up the De Lisle. True, it was a .45 ACP, and officially came in at 85.5 dB. But 1) it was a carbine with a large suppressor, it was a bolt action (fully suppressing a semi-automatic such as the VB shooter allegedly used is very problematical), and 3) the action and suppressor were designed as a single, purpose built, integrated unit.
[Permission to republish this article is granted so long as it is not edited and the author and The Zelman Partisans are credited.]
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They want to dismantle the Second Amendment one step and one component at a time. First it was magazine capacity, next the bump stocks, now suppressors, and tomorrow it will be a forward hand grip or a barrel shroud (“the thing that goes up”).
All of these bans will be used without any comprehension of the ergonomic or safety functions of firearms components since the goal is a total ban (with enforced confiscation). Look at the stupidity of the “Assault Weapons Ban” which targeted cosmetic features like a bayonet lug.
After the first news conference the night of the murders, the Chief of Police there has never used the word suppressor (or ‘large capacity’ magazines) since.
Yesterday evening’s presser had the ATF SAIC -Special Agent in Charge (area supervisor) answering questions and HE never once mentioned a suppressor being used either and I can guarantee with moral certitude that he would have since it would be such a sensational occurrence for a NFA item to be used.
Just my experience leads me to conclude that one of the pistols had a compensator on it and since Hollywierd uses such tiny prop silencers in the movies and on TV, some standard operational idjit simply misidentified it.
Actually this shouldn’t be considered strange since the vast majority of Law Enforcement and even military members I have worked with through the years are woefully uninformed about most things ‘guns’.
Possibly. But quotes from people in the building refer to the shots as “muffled” and sounding like “pop-pop.” Not how I’d describe an unsuppressed .45.
Not that facts matter to the anti-2A agenda. For that matter, no official report actually says bump-fire stocks were used in Las Vegas (ATF and LVMPD even disagree on how many were found). And yet they were banned anyway.
I keep up looking at all the possible news outlets for any further press conferences with VBPD or ATF included.
I figure eventually one of the media critterz will finally ask the question and have TPTB confirm whether or not the guy actually had one.
He had one, and it was lawfully purchased, according to the VBPD.
https://twitter.com/BearBussjaeger/status/1135886258625007617
Nice to finally have some confirmation of that. Thanks.
We can almost guarantee that the HPA will now be a dead item for the foreseeable future.
Of course, the NFA transfer process is one of the most detailed identification and background checks you have to go through.
It’s more than most of the politicians who are not outright calling for bans and confiscation are even calling for.
And it didn’t make one bit of difference.