I remember when suppressors weren’t a common sight at the range. They were relegated to hyper-fictionalized movies about assassins and spies. Now, I think the common person is at least somewhat aware of the benefits of suppressed firearms. Suppressors reduce the recoil and damaging noise associated with shooting a gun.
For hunters, it means hearing that deer rustling in the low brush. For avid shooters, it means not having to wear bulky hearing protection. Heck, for family homeowners defending their homes with a suppressed handgun, it means not sacrificing their ear drums to save their families.
Whatever your reasons, suppressors are awesome at protecting hearing. Unfortunately, they’re still a pain in the tail to get. It’s not so much the supply — there’s plenty of that — as much as the BATF’s molasses-slow process for obtaining a tax stamp.
Because suppressors are regulated as if they’re firearms (which they aren’t), they are put through a process similar to what a person has to go through to get a short barreled rifle.
In a word: government bureaucracy at its finest.
And as government bureaucracy rarely lifts its icy, cold grip on the things it touches, it may be a long while before suppressors are rightfully sold as accessories.
In the meantime, it has some concealed carriers wondering the practicality of a suppressed concealed carry firearm. Is it practical?
Probably not as an everyday, inside the waistband concealed carry handgun.
While some handgun suppressors feature lengths as short as three and a half inches, it’s just not practical to conceal one in the waistband without either printing or struggling to draw from holster.
Another practicality point is carrying a concealed handgun and a suppressor separately.
The question I would ask myself: in what situation do I anticipate having the time to draw my handgun, attach a suppressor, and engage opponents?
I don’t.
Maybe I’m not imaginative enough. Get with me in the comments section below.
However, pending some technological breakthroughs that dramatically reduce the size of suppressors, I don’t see them being a practical concealable item — at least not in the waistband or the typical places I store a concealed handgun.
However, there is a possibility with shoulder holsters. I don’t like shoulder holsters. They’re not practical given my routines and they print like crazy when I wear a business suit. For the right body type and the right cut of a suit coat or jacket, a suppressed handgun — such as a .380 or SIG P938 with a threaded barrel — may just do the trick.
This would require some extensive experimentation. Before that’s possible, I’d need to drop at least a couple hundred on a tax stamp for the suppressor, the actual cost of the suppressor itself ($600-1200), a threaded barrel for the gun I intended to carry it with ($35-130), and time… Lots of time.
With suppressors literally costing as much if not more than the typical concealed carry handgun, there’s also a cost benefit association. Why would I spend more money suppressing the handgun I carry every day?
If hearing protection is that important and I don’t mind changing the entire way I dress clothing, I suppose so. You tell me.