NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog
This week the Governor of Georgia signed a NRA and ASA backed House Bill into law. It is one of the most comprehensive gun bills to pass in the state of Georgia. Included in the bill is a provision to legalize the use of a suppressor while hunting. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2014.
Once the law goes into effect, Georgia will become the 32nd state in which civilians can use suppressors while hunting. Of those states, only Louisiana and Montana does not allow the use of suppressors while hunting game animals.
(Map from American Silencer Association’s website
The primary role of a suppressor is to reduce the overall sound signature of the host firearm to hearing safe levels. They do so by trapping the expanding gasses at the muzzle and allowing them to slowly cool, in a similar fashion to car mufflers. Their muffling capabilities intrinsically make them a hearing protection device for both the shooter and those around them.