New Jersey’s Suppressor Ban Violates The Second Amendment

Silence, ban.

A coalition of gun rights groups and three New Jersey residents are suing the Garden State for its ban on owning firearm suppressors. Filed in federal court earlier this month, the lawsuit claims New Jersey’s suppressor ban violates the Second Amendment and constitutes “an unlawful and irreparable deprivation of their fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

Although suppressors are sometimes called “silencers,” that is a misnomer. Instead of completely silencing a firearm, suppressors typically lower a gunshot’s noise by 20-35 decibels, reducing the risk of permanent hearing damage and making loud gunshots less of a nuisance. Unsurprisingly, multiple health agencies and organizations, including Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the National Hearing Conservation Association all recommend the use of suppressors. And by lowering recoil and shot flinch, suppressors boost accuracy and weapon handling, enhancing a firearm’s effectiveness in self-defense.

In this photo taken Jan. 27, 2017, Knox Williams, president and executive director of the Georgia-based American Suppressor Association, attaches a silencer to a long gun at a range in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane)

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

At the same time, since suppressors only suppress, not eliminate, gunshot noise, they’re not that useful for committing crimes. According to a 2017 ATF white paper, suppressors are “rarely used in criminal shootings,” with the ATF recommending, on average, only “44 defendants a year for prosecution on silencer-related violations.”

Indeed, suppressors are permitted under federal law. To comply, owners must register with the federal government, submit fingerprints, and pay a $200 tax, though starting next year, the tax will be set to $0 thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill. By the end of 2024, Americans had registered 4.5 million suppressors with the ATF. In May, a filing by the U.S. Department of Justice even conceded that “a ban on the possession of suppressors would be unconstitutional.”

Yet aside from a narrow exception for “alternative deer control method,” the Garden State has a complete ban on suppressors. In New Jersey, possessing a suppressor is a crime in the fourth degree, punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Only seven other states–California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island–have banned suppressors. A separate lawsuit is currently challenging a similar suppressor ban in Illinois.

For the New Jersey lawsuit, the case was filed by American Suppressor Association, National Rifle Association, Safari Club International, Second Amendment Foundation, Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, and the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate. Their lawsuit relies on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. That ruling created a two-step test to determine if a gun regulation violates the Second Amendment: “When the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. The government must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

“By banning suppressors,” the lawsuit asserts, “New Jersey effectively bans suppressed firearms, and suppressed firearms are ‘arms.’” Moreover, since suppressors are commonly used and increase gun safety, they fall outside “the sole historical tradition that can remove an arm from the Second Amendment’s protective scope—the tradition of banning dangerous and unusual weapons.”

“The ban on suppressors in New Jersey is an unacceptable violation of Second Amendment rights for law-abiding gun owners across the Garden State,” Knox Williams, president and executive director of the American Suppressor Association, said in a statement. “Suppressors are an essential safety device that protects the hearing and preserves situational awareness for millions of gun owners and sportsmen.”