• Silencers greatly reduce the amount of noise a gun makes when it is fired.Aimed shotgun, with depth of field image by cdbdi from Fotolia.com
  
  Silencers are devices that can significantly lessen the sound of the blast produced when a gun is fired. They are usually usually long, cylindrical, and made from metal, and are attached to the end of of firearm barrels, minimizing the sound a gun makes when fired by slowing the bullet and the gasses released. Silencers are a point of controversy in the United States---while some see them as a dangerous aid for criminals who may stand a greater chance of committing a crime undetected, others say they make firing weapons for sport and target practice much more pleasant. The federal government has passed several laws about owning silencers in the United States, though some states have banned them altogether.
  
  

Classification

• Silencers are considered Title 2 weapons in the United States, which means that they are in a category of weapons that include machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. There are more restrictions on owning Title 2 weapons than there are on owning firearms that are considered more conventional. Those wishing to purchase---or even loan out or give---Title 2 weapons must receive approval from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) before doing so. There are stiff penalties for buying, giving, or loaning a silencer (or other Title 2 weapon) without BATF approval, including a $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in federal prison.
  
  

Ownership

• The laws on private citizens owning silencers varies from state to state, with the majority of states granting private ownership on the condition of BATF approval. A few states allow some manufacturers and dealers to be in possession of silencers, but not private owners. There are no federal laws banning government ownership of silencers.
  
  

Purchase

• Federal laws on purchasing silencers are straightforward: those who wish to purchase silencers must do so through a licensed gun dealer in his or her state of residence (and, obviously, private ownership of silencers must be legal in that state to do so). Since silencers are a Title 2 weapon, only certain dealers, who are licensed and pay a special tax, may sell them; these dealers are known as Class 3 dealers. As previously mentioned, before the purchase of a silencer can go through, the deal must be approved of by the BATF, which can take up to five weeks for government agencies and up to four months for private owners.