Democrats Propose Unconstitutional Bill to Confiscate Firearm Silencers

In the press release, Sen. Menendez lists four instances where a silencer was used in a shooting however out of the four instances listed there are some discrepancies. below are each incident and our analysis. 

In Virginia Beach, Virginia, on May 31, 2019, a gunman armed with a .45-caliber handgun fitted with a suppressor killed 12 people in a government building. One individual who survived the shooting reported hearing what sounded like a nail gun.

It is unknown whether this was a legally purchased silencer; however the firearms used in the crime were purchased legally so it is assumed the silencer was legal. This is the only incident listed where a legal silencer was used. 

In Jacksonville, Florida, in December 2017, police arrested a man for planning to “shoot up” an Islamic Center. He was charged with possessing a silencer not registered to him that he purchased from an undercover detective. The man texted the undercover detective saying, “The suppressor is not really that ‘quiet’ but it can be used on the 4th of July or New Year (sic) time, it can easily blend with the sound of fireworks”.

No shooting happened. A man was arrested for possessing an illegal silencer purchased from an undercover officer. 

In Southern California, in February 2013, a former Los Angeles police officer killed four people and wounded three others over the course of nine days. As police investigated, they wondered why nearby residents weren’t reporting the shots. It turned out that, in an effort to conceal his murders, the shooter was using a silencer, which distorts the sound of gunfire and masks the muzzle flash of a gun.

Silencers are illegal in California, and it is unknown if the officer purchased the silencer legally. However, in order to do that he would have had to purchase it in a different state and brought it into California illegally.

In Toledo, Ohio, in January 2011, a man fatally shot his coworker as he sat eating his breakfast in his office. No one at the office heard the gunshot and the victim’s co-workers originally assumed he had died of a heart attack. Police later surmised that the killer had used a silencer.

No silencer was recovered or seen. The police assumed that a silencer might have been used because there were no witnesses that heard a shot. Since this crime was committed more than a decade ago not much information is available to confirm the police report.