Sound suppressors are to be legalised in SA

[subatom]

So Shooters & Fishers Party SA are telling us

Shooters & Fishers Party SA Inc posted this on their Facebook page.

Good news. Sound suppressors are to be legalised in SA per Police Minister Piccolo at a meeting discussing the new Firearms Act in November.

However the Head of the Firearms Branch of SA Police, said he strongly did not want them widespread. Obviously not in tune with the Minister's thinking. The Firearms Branch head said maybe "professional shooters" should only have access to them. Workplace safety as one issue regarding loud noises affects more than "professional shooters", affects farmers and agricultural workers for example. And of course regular sporting shooters. Limiting suppressors to "professional shooters" would still be an effective ban and if so not in tune with the Minister's support for them to be legalised.

Sound suppressors will likely to be serial numbered and be registered per one comment.

As for the rest of the new Firearms Act, we will have to see what devil is in the detail.

John H

Fingers crossed

[Westy]

They were years ago ,don't know how many of those little .22 ones were sold back in the day

[Gregg]

Fingers crossed

That... But I'll believe it when I see it.

[Kelix]

I hope it goes through.

Foot in the door and would set a precedent for remaining states.

[brisb]

Great news if true.

[cooker]

Hunting and club shooting with suppressors is common enough here in NZ and of obvious benefit to anyone who's actually been in the presence one being used, and not just going by the movies.

Good luck to you.

[Vati]

As they should be.

The problem, as you highlighted cooker, is the movies.

None of the pollies would have a f***ing clue. They think as soon as they're legal we'll suddenly have thousands of super-assassins dropping them silently at 1,000 yards and vanishing into the night!

What a joke.

They should be handled under Health & Safety, which I believe they are in NZ?

[Mich]

None of the pollies would have a f***ing clue. They think as soon as they're legal we'll suddenly have thousands of super-assassins dropping them silently at 1,000 yards and vanishing into the night!

That's an admission of guilt right there IMO.

Shows they know what a s**t job they're doing and how much everyone loathes them

[Gwion]

Hope it goes through for the Crow Eaters, but what the minister wants and what the boss cops deliver are often two different things in this game. Wait and see, but it'd be great if it happens!

[Norton]

Good luck, hope it happens for you lot to set the standard for the rest of us.

[cuvy]

Since a suppressed subsonic .22lr is the only thing that is apparently actually hollywood quiet, I reckon it would be interesting to compare the kinetic energy of a subsonic 22 with things like a hammer-fist strike, swung hammer or baseball bat. Not exactly a straight comparison, but it would be interesting - i'd bet that it wouldn't be that hard to swing a hammer with the same kinetic energy as a .22, which would be a useful comparison when discussing the "silent assassin" fear mongering.

[sbd3927]

It would have to be a rather small hammer. I recall suppressed .22's as a kid, a ping from the firing pin, and thwack on the target.

Totally useless with anything other than SUBSONIC rounds. Missing from most of the hollywood myths is any substantial round is supersonic, and quite capable of making its own noise after it has left the barrel.

From some phonebook tests, a std 22 rimfire has similar energy/penetration to an arrow, ~25grams @ 100m/s, so when you look at subsonics, and larger hammer mass it's starting to look fairly useless.

Of course it is possible to reload subsonic rounds with larger projectiles, but the applications and especially range are still quite limited.

I know someone with permits to use >200g .30 calibre for pest control near a town, he talks about critical shot placement and 50m effective range, slightly greater range than throwing a brick

[Arth]

Good luck, hope it happens for you lot to set the standard for the rest of us.

Here's hoping.

I'd be interested in have one. If that requires a PTA or registration or whatever, so be it.

[Kipper]

Of course it is possible to reload subsonic rounds with larger projectiles, but the applications and especially range are still quite limited.

Would be a dream come true for the 300 AAC boys to finally get the suppressors their rifles were made to use

[Lorgar]

Good luck, hope it happens for you lot to set the standard for the rest of us.

I'd certainly be keen to give one a go if Victoria changed its tune.

[bear foot bowhunter]

Any update on this

[on_one_wheel]

Any update on this

........insert cricket sounds here .......

I'm heading out and getting all my barrels threaded in anticipation

[Finn-Sako]

The new Firearms Act in SA appears to be in the final stages of being written into law, but regulations appear not to have been advised of yet. The Bill appears to include (increased) penalties for suppressor ownership along with other firearms offences unless there will be amendments to the Bill after the debate.

[sandgroperbill]

Who here used to watch yes, minister. Funny because its true

[Spudman75]

The new Firearms Act in SA appears to be in the final stages of being written into law, but regulations appear not to have been advised of yet. The Bill appears to include (increased) penalties for suppressor ownership along with other firearms offences unless there will be amendments to the Bill after the debate.

They are moving 99% of the stuff we care about into the Regs under the direct control of SAPOL. So I doubt anything will change for the better. This is exactly what happened to the new Bicycle laws, they are being driven by the Regs not the Act. Regs only need to be drafted and approved by the Governor General, no discussion or open forum.

I had a response from the Minister last week saying that there was no intention to change the .38 calibre restriction on handguns and it was deferred to the Federal AG. I have also heard discussions about restricting any mag over 5 rounds, it is really getting silly and we need to do something about it.

[Harts]

The Bill appears to include (increased) penalties for suppressor ownership along with other firearms offences unless there will be amendments to the Bill after the debate.

No mention of "without a permit" in there then?

[happyhunter]

.

[Finn-Sako]

The Bill appears to include (increased) penalties for suppressor ownership along with other firearms offences unless there will be amendments to the Bill after the debate.

No mention of "without a permit" in there then?

The Bill does make several references to suppressors by implication, more of them compared to the existing Act which will be replaced by this new Bill and its possible amendments, and says there may be further regulations as to their availability or use but these regs have not been processed yet.
How many (older)deer or varmint hunters or shooting range volunteers do you know with a hearing aid...?
It would take a very optimistic firearms holder to challenge any of the suppressor laws in Australia or elsewhere on the basis of common law precedents only, even if you could find any, hearing aid or not

[Swarm]

How many (older)deer or varmint hunters or shooting range volunteers do you know with a hearing aid...?

More with than without.