Current Version of SHARE Act Would Eliminate Safeguards

BOSTON, Oct. 4, 2017—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and 29 additional members of Prosecutors Against Gun Violence today announced their strong opposition to provisions in proposed legislation that would remove existing gun silencer safety regulations from federal law.

“The last thing we need is increased access to a tool that makes gun violence more deadly,” Conley said. “More silencers on the street will mean fewer 911 calls to report shots fired.  That means a less effective response by police and EMS and a greater risk that a shooting will become a homicide.  Easing the reasonable restrictions on silencers is a terrible idea for public safety, public health, and public policy.”

Current federal law requires all buyers of silencers to pass a background check and comply with other common-sense safety measures. Provisions to the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act, however, would remove gun silencers from regulation under the National Firearms Act, which for decades has prevented felons, domestic abusers, and other people with dangerous histories from obtaining silencers.

“We were disappointed to see the SHARE Act, which was originally a sportsman’s bill, larded up with dangerous gun provisions that would jeopardize not only the safety of the public, but also of the front-line law enforcement officers who work to keep our communities safe,” Conley wrote with Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, and 27 other big city prosecutors in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi opposing the change.

“As prosecutors, we are sworn to uphold public safety in our communities. The SHARE Act would threaten that safety by, amongst other things, removing gun silencers from the National Firearms Act, which for decades has prevented felons, domestic abusers, and other people with dangerous histories from obtaining silencers. Current federal law requires all buyers of silencers to pass a background check and comply with other common-sense safety provisions. And it is because of these very safeguards – the ones that the SHARE Act seeks to do away with – that silencers are rarely used in crimes. If those important safeguards are eliminated, we are concerned that incidents of silencer crimes will increase and threaten the safety of our communities.”

Conley said this reversal of effective and longstanding policy would also make cases that are already challenging for police and prosecutors even tougher.

“Outdoor shootings are statistically the hardest to solve and the hardest to prove,” Conley said. “Increasing unlawful access to silencers will quite literally make it easier to get away with murder.”

Conley serves on the PAGV Executive Committee and was among its first members. The group was founded in 2014 by Vance and Feuer as a nonpartisan coalition of leading prosecutors from every region of the United States, committed to advancing prosecutorial and policy solutions to the national public health and safety crisis of gun violence.

To stay up to date with PAGV’s progress, visit ProsecutorsAGV.org and follow PAGV on Facebook and Twitter.

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