U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) introduced legislation Monday designed to outlaw the sale of firearm suppressors throughout the country.
The bill is titled the Help Empower Americans to Respond (HEAR) Act.
Watson Coleman’s officer noted that other Democrat Reps. supporting the HEAR Act include Adriano Espaillat (NY), Jahana Hayes (CT), Glenn Ivey (MD), Sean Casten (IL), and Ed Case (HI).
The text of the HEAR Act makes clear: “It shall be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a firearm silencer or firearm muffler.” It goes on to explain that law enforcement, federal departments, and other agents of the state would be exempt from the ban.
The HEAR Act puts a buyback in place for suppressors and “firearm mufflers” so owners of said items can hand them over to the government and receive compensation: “During the 90-day period described in section 6, the Attorney General shall establish and implement a buy-back program, to be carried out across the United States, to purchase firearm silencers and firearm mufflers… from individuals seeking to comply with the requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.”
As of June 8, 2026, Guns.com estimated there are “over six million suppressors in circulation” in America.
It is worth noting that suppressors are among the most highly regulated firearm-related devices in the country. Although they are not firearms, they are regulated as though they were and the purchase of one requires passage of a background check and registration of the device with the ATF. Moreover, the purchaser must be fingerprinted and photographed.
Despite these stringent gun controls, Democrats joining with Rep. Watson Coleman are pushing to ban the devices.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. He is a lever action man in an AR-15 world. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at [email protected].
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