Last week, the NRA-backed legislation legalizing the use of suppressors for hunting was amended into another bill, due to a missed deadline by the House Public Policy Committee. Senate Bill 243, previously reported here, was unable to survive last week’s committee report deadline and is now considered a dead bill.
The “hunting with suppressors” language was then resurrected, thanks to the efforts of state Representative Sean Eberhart (R-57) and state Senators Ryan Mishler (R-9) and Travis Holdman (R-19). These legislators worked together to add the language from SB 243 to Representative Eberhart’s Natural Resources Omnibus bill, House Bill 1279. Yesterday, the Senate voted 49 to 0 to pass HB 1279 with the “hunting with suppressors” language included. It was then sent back to the state House for a concurrence vote in conference committee.
However, due to new rules adopted by the House of Representatives for this legislative session, if a bill does not get a hearing in a House committee, it cannot be accepted into another House bill. Unfortunately, this means that the pro-hunting language from SB 243 will be removed from HB 1279 in conference committee, and will not be allowed to move forward this session.
The National Rifle Association appreciates the efforts by state Representative Sean Eberhart and state Senators Ryan Mishler and Travis Holdman to keep the suppressor language alive.
Your NRA will continue to work on behalf of our members to ensure that hunting is treated the same way as other shooting activities with respect to the use of suppressors, and allow hunters to reap the many benefits suppressor use provides.
For more information on the benefits of using suppressors, please click here.
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