Montana's Got the Right Idea: Ditching Suppressor Regulations

Well, folks, here's some news that actually makes me optimistic about the future of our Second Amendment rights.

Montana is stepping up in a big way. Their Republican legislature is drafting legislation to completely deregulate suppressors and short-barreled firearms at the state level. This is happening because the ATF has basically thrown in the towel on enforcing federal registration requirements for these items after some recent court losses.

Now here's the thing - even though the feds aren't enforcing these laws anymore, some states still have old registration requirements on the books. Montana lawmakers realized that leaving those laws on the books is a ticking time bomb. Even if a friendly attorney general decides not to prosecute people today, the next AG might have different ideas. The only real solution is to repeal these unconstitutional restrictions entirely.

That's exactly what Montana is doing. They're not just hoping the ATF keeps looking the other way - they're actually fixing the problem at the state level. And they've got the NRA, Attorney General Knudsen, and multiple state legislators behind them. This is the kind of proactive approach we need more of.

Compare that to some other states. Missouri and Mississippi have at least had their AGs say they won't enforce these laws, which is better than nothing. But Georgia? Their attorney general won't even respond to questions about whether he's considering the same thing. That's the kind of radio silence that makes me wonder who's really looking out for our rights.

The bottom line is this: suppressors aren't some scary machine guns. They're hearing protection. They're a sensible accessory that millions of responsible gun owners use every day. The fact that we've had to register them under the National Firearms Act for decades was always ridiculous, and now that the federal government is backing off, states need to finish the job.

Montana is showing the way. Let's hope more states follow their lead.