Florida Silencer Hunting Already Faces Challenge

Less than two weeks after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted unanimously to toss out a 1957 partial ban on the use of sound suppressors for hunting, anti-gun forces have moved to challenge the decision by filing a petition with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings.

The three people named in the petition are not average folks who oppose peace in the woods, and they used a lawyer who worked to oppose the decision before it had even been made. Clearly, this is a politically-motivated move, without true concern for the public.

In a recent article, filing attorney Christopher T. Byrd was quoted as saying, “Here, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offered no evidence at all to overturn the prohibition on the use of silencer-equipped firearms, which was made over 50 years ago. Without some justification or legal analysis the rule should stand.”

Of course, the question of whether the 1957 rule was made with or without “some justification or legal analysis” is ignored.

Pro-hunting activist Marion Hammer opined that “This is nothing more than an orchestrated political effort by the League of Women Voters, one of the biggest anti-gun, anti-sportsmen organizations in our state. The lead plaintiff, Chuck O’Neal, even put out a call on Facebook for people to join him who weren’t afraid to testify in court…”

O’Neal is on the Board of Directors of the Florida League of Women Voters is the chair of the Natural Resources Committees of both the Florida League of Women Voters and the League of Women Voters/Orange County.

We have documented some of the anti-gun antics performed by of League of Women Voters in the recent past, and it’s clear that they’re not interested in representing female voters; instead they’re pushing a narrow, restrictive, anti-gun political agenda.

Lawyer Boyd noted that “The League is not a named Petitioner in the legal challenge, however, one of their committees on gun safety has formulated an opinion on the silencer issue.”

The petition claims that loud gunfire is somehow safer than muffled gunshots. Common sense dictates that the opposite is true.

It sure would be nice to live in a world where people minded their own business instead of constantly trying to restrict what other people can do.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.