On Thursday, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission (MNRC) voted to repeal Wildlife Conservation Order 2.1(6), the state prohibition on hunting using firearm sounds suppressors. After the vote, Michigan is now the 38th state to allow the use of suppressors when hunting.
While there are clearly a number of benefits to using a suppressor for your firearm, such as protecting against hearing loss and improving shot accuracy. Depending on where you look and who you ask, there are also some drawbacks.
While many believe removing the loud firearm discharges from the woods would be beneficial to both hunters and the game they pursue, there are some folks who do in fact, use those sounds to their advantages.
Conservation officers in past, have expressed that their only complaint about the use of suppressors for hunting is that many of them will use the loud sound of a gunshot to detect and locate illegal hunting activity.
This being said, the NRA-ILA has reported that in the 37 states that legalized the use of suppressors prior to Michigan, there is no evidence that permissible use has led to an increase in poaching or impaired a conservation officer’s ability to properly enforce game regulations.
