Quote of the Day
In 2019, a gunman shot and killed 12 people in a Virginia Beach municipal building. His semiautomatic weapon was fitted with a silencer, making the gunshots sound, to one survivor, “like a nail gun.”
If the shots had been louder — if the people inside had been given even 30 more seconds of warning — lives could have perhaps been saved. But muffled sounds from the silencer created confusion and, ultimately, death.
Silencers are dangerous. Now, they’re more accessible than ever.
Sally Young
Senior at Dartmouth College studying English and Public Policy
July 26, 2025
Opinion: Silence kills: Now is the time to speak up against deadly gun silencers
It is very telling that Ms. Young can only cite one instance of a suppressor being used in a crime. Even though there are millions of them in the possession of U.S. citizens suppressors are almost never used it a crime. Even more telling is that even though she is studying “public policy” it apparently does not occur to her that specific enumerated rights are not evaluated on the basis of how they are abused. They are protected and the people who abuse them are punished.
After reading a little bit about what a “public policy” major is, I see the problem. Public policy majors are taught to see the world through the lens of what government can do to improve society. I cannot say for certain, but it looks to me like a “public policy” of limited government powers is not in their playbook. The solution to all problems is always more government control. In other words, socialism and tyranny.
No, thank you. Ms. Young, you may not have my guns or suppressors. Your move Ms. Young. Please choose wisely.
OMG, what a single lens you see the world. You caught up in you own cleverness. No one wants your guns you silly man child.
Really? Are you sure? Citation needed.
You are either a troll / bot / shill (but not a very good one), or a deeply ignorant / naïve person.
If that were true I’d have a great deal of difficulty going to the dealer & trading them in for different ones.
Or… as a matter of public policy, all forms of entertainment that depicted silenced shots must be re-edited with accurate -30dB suppressed gunshots so the public knows what they sound like, even if that ruins a plot point or an artistic vision.
Should we not be encumbering the First Amendment to prevent the damage caused by fully automatic high capacity unregulated misinformation, Ms Sally? Surely, to save those lives you referred to, you would be the first to accept and have applied to you personally common sense ignorance regulation?
Not only is there only one (1) incident in which a suppressor was used for her to cite, she has to misrepresent the details of that incident.
One person interviewed said it sounded like a nail gun. She then follows with “if the people inside had been given more warning…” implying that everyone inside he building mistook the gunfire for a nail gun.
Not mentioned by the anti-gun zealot are the several people who readily recognized the sounds for what they were:
“Hearing the gunshots, employees in Public Utilities try to escape or hide, with several barricading themselves in offices.”
As usual, anti-gunners have to cherry pick their data points to make their arguments.
The one person who thought the shots sounded like a nail gun may not have recognized them for what they were under any circumstances. It’s human nature for some people to discount things that are so out of the ordinary and assume that there’s some innocent explanation behind them.
Had the shooter not been using a suppressor, the story may very well have been “he thought the sound was a car backfiring” or “he thought the sound was firecrackers”.
Appeal to government authority is outsourcing personal responsibility.
AI Overview
Yes, Virginia Beach, like many municipalities, prohibits firearms in certain public buildings. Generally, government buildings like courthouses and city halls are considered gun-free zones.
Gun free zone strikes again, its public policy Ms.Young. The suppressor was ancillary to the crime.
“Sally Young
Senior at Dartmouth College studying English and Public Policy
July 26, 2025″
Allow me to translate.
Head of the Dartmouth communist emotional response unit.
Their motto;
” Reason be damned, I feel it, therefor it’s true.”