I am going to sit down and write a letter or two, and I think if we all did we could get this overturned.  Many states allow suppressor use for game animals, and Texas is behind the curve.  If you don't have a suppressor, you could have a .223 can for around $700 with the tax stamp paid––they aren't too expensive.  Below is my reasoning, which can be a good start for a letter.

If you have ever heard 5.56 (.223) or .308 suppressed, you know it is not overly quiet.  You wouldn't gain an unfair advantage, where the animals just stand there like nothing happened.  I hunt feral hogs with suppressors, and out of a 5.56/.308 they react just as with an unsuppressed gun, but the effect on my hearing isn't as severe.  There are sub sonic rounds that are more quiet, but not many folks would use them for hunting due to the reduced range from the low velocity rounds.  If they did, it would be more akin to bow hunting, which is legal anyway––both are close range and make little sound.

What you would gain is the purpose of the suppressors, hearing protection!  I have always hunted with no hearing protection (ear plugs, etc) so I can hear what is going on around me.  Hearing loss is cumulative, and over the years you will start to gain a ringing in your ears and eventually hearing loss.  Furthermore, I have guns I want to use to hunt game, but they have a muzzle brake permanently attached to accommodate a suppressor.  Without the suppressor the brake is way to loud to shoot without hearing protection, ruling it out for hunting game animals.

Maybe someone could help me with who needs to be contacted.  I am assuming it would be a director or high up in TPWD.  That is who would make these rules, correct?  Chime in if you know, also to say if you agree/disagree and why.  You are entitled to do as you wish obviously, but I am going to write a letter to voice my opinion either way.  This isn't out of reach, as many states already allow it.  A few I know of from a thread in the suppressor forum are AR, WI, MO, PA, VA, MI.

ETA:  Let's get the ball rolling.  I made an online petition to start building some momentum.  You can sign anonymously if you wish.  Thanks for the support, and spread the petition around!

I don't think you'll have much luck because most fudds consider suppressors to be illegal and unsporting.

I'll sign a petition!

I was just thinking about this the other day, and I agree, we need to get this fixed.

My personal opinion is that TPWD won't help, we'll have to get it fixed legislatively.  Anyone have an in with their State Rep or Senator?

I think it's silly to not be allowed to use legal weapons for hunting.

Until you get the rules changed why don't you try electronic hearing protection?  It isn't quite as good as unprotected hearing but these days it is very good and costs much less than a suppressor.  Even $70 electronic muffs are good these days.  $180 muffs are even better.

I just got my new Dillon electronic hearing protection for $58 last week, and it works great!

Lets go one step further. Suppressors should just be unregulated. I mean, the average person (majority of the populace) wouldn't gain or lose anything either way, or have any interest what so ever. It's not like suppressors 'silence' guns, as hollywood likes to make it seem. That majority has that illusion of course.
So basically, a suppressor does just that, suppresses, but its not even close to being 'silent'. In fact it's quite the opposite.

I want one so bad.

Can you expand?

I agree, but this is a step in the right direction.  Plus, that is a whole different level of gov't to deal with.





I'm sure most of us have rifles that cost more (especially if you have an AR, as we are on ARFCOM afterall  ).  Just a little patience is all you need.  If you have some land around Austin I would be more than happy to bring a few out.  Pig hunting will also get me off my butt with cans in tow  

Signed - but I seriously doubt anything will happen.

Same here. There are "bigger fish to fry" as far as our legislatures are concerned. Look at laws like auto knives, that is an outdated law that does not seem to be going away any time soon. Hell we could not even get open carry passed.

While I agree that there's no reason we shouldn't be able to hunt with suppressors and I regularly hunt hogs with a suppressor, the above statement isn't totally true. Have you ever stood down range when someone is shooting a suppressed 5.56? At 75 yards it sounds like a cap gun and is nowhere near comparable to an unsuppressed gun. We shoot hogs and if you drop the one you're aiming at without much squealing the rest of them will often come back. Try that with an unsuppressed gun.

Unfortunately, I don't see this ever happening unless suppressors get a lot more common place than they are now.

That can be the case, sometimes they run too.  I meant from the shooters perspective also though, you get a good "crack".  With a deer you won't be sitting there dropping a bunch anyway, and they are typically more skidish than hogs (when not going crazy in rut).  At least the ones worth shooting  

I've loaded my 308 where you barely hear it but had just enough power to punch a hole in paper.  I'm curious the effect with Subsonic on large game.

Can we advertise this around on some of the Class III forums?

From the shooters perspective is irrelevant since the shooter isn't the one getting shot at. I'm just saying, your initial statement is not accurate and by using a suppressor you're going to have a chance to kill more animals, whether it's deer, hogs, whatever. They won't scatter like usual or from as far away as usual because the firearm is significantly quieter when suppressed.

signed and commented
good luck....though I dont have a whole lot of faith anything will happen.

I have it up in the suppressor forum on this site.  If any of you guys are members on other forums please post it up there too.

+1  

Doesn't hurt to try & get the ball rolling.

There you go

 He is referring to ear protection with a mic/speakers so you can hear with them on.  I believe at a certain decibel it cuts the speakers off, or at least they don't get louder.  The problems with them are they don't pick up everything, and mainly you get no sense of the direction the sound is coming from.  Some of the more affordable ones I've used don't have great sound quality also.