You Can Now Hunt With a Silencer in Texas

March 30, 2012 | 3:16 PM
By Terrence Henry

Photo Courtesy of Flickr user boboroshi/Creative Commons

Silencers make hunting easier on the ears, but some control control groups worry about safety.

Earlier this month we told you about a proposed rule change that would allow hunters to use silencers when going after game, birds and even alligators. Today the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) announced it has adopted that rule, so Texans can now hunt in relative silence. (Provided they submit an application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), pay $200 and get a criminal background check.)

“These devices are already legal for hunting exotic animals, including feral hogs, and there is no resource or enforcement-related reason to prohibit these devices for hunting alligators, game animals or game birds,” Scott Vaca, TPWD Assistant Chief of Wildlife Enforcement, said in a statement.

Opponents of the rule change had argued that a bullet is exactly the sort of thing that people should able to hear.

“I think there should be concerns across the spectrum, from people who are engaging in legitimate hunting activity and who are not able to hear the report of rifle fire from a hunter, or hunters who are not in their group and who don’t have that warning,”  Ladd Everitt, a spokesperson with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, told StateImpact Texas earlier. 

More from the Parks and Wildlife:

“The regulation change does not relieve any person of the obligation to comply with applicable federal, state, or local law governing the possession or use of firearm silencers. Firearms silencers are regulated under the National Firearms Act. They are legal for individuals to possess and use for lawful purposes in 39 states, including Texas. However, a prospective user must go through an application process administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which requires a Federal tax payment of $200 and a thorough criminal background check.”

Read our earlier story on hunting with silencers here.

Comments

  • Jim

    At one time in this country, full automatic firearms and silencers were againts Federal law. I guess the NRA have bought more politicans than I thought.

    • blah

      You are not very smart.

    • Hardday

      Your not informed and your stupid.

      • blah

        Automatic weapons have never been against the law, they have however been highly regulated starting with the National Firearms Act of 1934 (I believe this was in response to gangsters with “Tommy guns” etc.) Silencers and other weapons were hit with this same ban Act. Anyone can still own any of these items after paying a $200 tax stamp and passing a sort of background check.

        You’re an IDIOT.

      • Guest

        You’re uneducated and have poor grammar

  • JC

    Jim, at one time in our country it was legal for citizens to have any piece of artillery which the government might possess. The point of a well armed citizenry is to prohibit the growing of a government which will use military force against it’s own people. Our forefathers saw this is what allowed the United States to win independence from Great Britain, and that it might be needed again in the future.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jaretburkett Jaret Burkett

    It is about time. Your car is required to have a muffler because it is to loud. A gun however is required to be loud enough to damage your hearing. Also, I think anyone against silencers has never seen one fired outside of a movie. In the movie it is a quiet wisp. In real life they are still loud just not damaging to your hearing. It is a safety device. Nothing more. 

  • Johann

    This is NUTS!  As a hunter for over 50 years (I’m 71), this is the most nutty rule passed by the Parks & Wildlife.  Of course, you know that all those members on the board are “city slickers” and really don’t give a damn about rural folks!

    • blah

      What are you talking about?

  • Brad the Gun Guy

    Silencers have never been illegal.  They do require additional background checks and registration much like full auto or short barrel rifles.  In many countries they do not even have background checks to purchase them.  Unlike machine guns they were not put under NFA registration to keep gangsters from using them.  In fact the odd part about this change is that the reason silencers were restricted to begin with was to make it harder to poach game animals.

  • ZincChloride

    Finally! It’s about time TPWD stopped listening to the hypocritical left and allow common sense in hunting. Jim you’re an idiot by the way. Almost everything the Marx followers believe in is anti-American and against one’s personal liberty and freedom. If the left’s ideologies actually worked then why the democrat controlled cities and states have the highest crime and poverty rates?

  • Randel

    at one time there was an amendment what was it??? oh yea The Second
    Amendment A well
    regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of
    the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed ……   thats pretty straight to the point…lets see it says you have the right to bear arms,….. sorry I dont see in there where it said except full auto or cannon or…

  • Wayne Snyder

    Is there a listing of states that allow usage of silencers?

  • Joele

    I think the freedom to own a silencer or a fully automatic weapon is something that has been lost or restricted for far too long. Background check, understandable, but I don’t think there should be a $200 handout for the government to approve someone of owning one of either.

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