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About the Episode

Technology is a wonderful thing. It’s why we can travel faster than ever, why we are safer than ever, and why our standard of living is higher than ever. Technology has improved our lives in so many ways, many of which we take for granted.

For example: Imagine a world in which a muffler had not been invented for cars. How awful would that be? And how many more of us would need hearing aids?

The man that conceived and developed the muffler for our cars worked on a similar device for firearms using the same technology. Silencers were invented as a public health measure. Anyone who’s ever heard a gunshot or been too close to a gun when it goes off knows the risks that firearms run for your hearing.

So why aren’t silencers more widely used? Answer: the National Firearms Act of 1934.

This law, again, from the 1930’s, is growing more obsolete every minute. It was originally authored to counteract the gangland shootings of the prohibition era, and it restricted fully automatic, selective fire weapons, short barreled rifles and shotguns and suppressors.

A full repeal of this law won’t pass our current congress, but removing suppressors from the restricted items on this list is a common sense move that’s long overdue. The spirit of the NFA was to counteract organized crime, organizations that thrived on fear and, by and large, didn’t employ suppressors. Suppressors aren’t related to elevated crime levels; the only thing that they do increase is personal health and safety.

More suppressors, less hearing aids…and more guns means less crime! Go out and buy yourself a gun! You’ve been listening to Come and Talk It! with Michael Cargill.