The first time I learned this valuable lesson was more than a decade ago, when I went after a rabid raccoon with a .357 outside of my house in rural Virginia. I’d been after the menace for a couple of days, finally caught sight of him where it was safe to dispatch him, and I pulled the trigger.
The effect was cinematic. The ringing crescendo in my head swelled until I heard nothing else. I got a bit of tunnel vision and fell back off the bench I’d leaped onto to get a clear shot.
I still have tinnitus now always ringing in my ears and I’ve not pulled the trigger since unless I was wearing hearing protection, or the gun was suppressed (and sometimes both).
Silencers are a viable option for those who don’t want to wear plugs or over-the-ear muffs, or electronic noise-canceling headphones. The best combination is active hearing protection that will allow for accurate situational awareness, a bit of amplification, and a capable silencer on the muzzle. It’s simply safer to shoot suppressed.
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