Georgia Senate approves silencers for hunting

Georgia hunters could use noise suppressors on their guns under a bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate.

Senate Bill 93, sponsored by Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, would still require gun owners to follow federal law in buying and registering what are commonly called silencers before they can be used in the field. Anyone who violates the rules or uses the suppressor to hunt on land without permission or hunts big game out of season or at night would lose hunting privileges for three years and be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Thirty-two states already allow hunters to use suppressors. Here, one of the state’s biggest gun advocacy groups, Georgia Carry, supports the bill.