Democrats Introduce Ban on Sale, Possession of Gun Silencers

A visitor pulls the slide of a pistol with a silencer at a gun displays at a National Rifle Association outdoor sports trade show in Harrisburg, Pa., on Feb. 10, 2017. Dominick Reuter/AFP via Getty Images

Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation to ban the sale and possession of firearm suppressors, known as silencers.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) said that the 2021 Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act, would ban the sale, importation, manufacturing, and possession of silencers. The bill was first introduced in 2019 after a mass shooting in Virginia Beach that left 12 dead.