Ask any audiologist what the most dangerous noise a shooter will ever encounter is, and the answer is simple: the shot itself. An unsuppressed centrefire rifle produces a peak sound level of 160–185 decibels — well past the threshold where a single exposure causes permanent damage. Hearing loss and tinnitus don't heal. They accumulate, shot after shot, season after season.

There is one device that reduces that noise at the source: the sound moderator. In NSW it remains classed as a prohibited weapon — and as of this winter, the Firearms Registry isn't just refusing new permits. It's taking back the ones it already issued, from the professional users it already vetted.

A quick note on names before we start: NSW law calls them silencers, Americans say suppressors, the British say sound moderators. They are the same device, and none of them silences anything. We'll use the terms interchangeably — the Weapons Prohibition Act certainly does.

Here's why the current approach makes no sense.

Benefits vs risks, in short

The benefits — established and measured:

• Hearing protection. Peer-reviewed testing by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found moderators cut noise at the shooter's ear by 17–24 dB, and by 20–28 dB for an instructor or hunting companion standing behind the shooter. The CDC concluded that suppressors are the only potentially effective noise control for gunfire. The American Academy of Otolaryngology and the National Hearing Conservation Association both formally endorse them.
• They work where earmuffs don't. NIOSH data shows up to half of earplug users fail to achieve their rated protection. In the field, hunters and pest controllers often can't wear occluding protection at all — you need to hear your dogs, your mates, your surroundings. A moderator protects everyone near the muzzle, plugs or no plugs.
• Better shooting, better welfare. Less recoil and muzzle blast means less flinch, calmer follow-up, and more accurate, more humane shot placement — a direct gain for professional pest destruction.
• Less disturbance. Quieter shots mean fewer complaints for ranges near growing suburbs, less-spooked livestock on neighbouring properties, and less blanket disturbance to non-target wildlife during control programs.

The risks — examined and found small:

• “Silencers help criminals.” The most comprehensive study of criminal suppressor use (Clark, 2007) found it to be rare and a minor problem. Jurisdictions with practical regulation have seen no rise in criminal misuse. And nothing is actually silenced — a suppressed .22LR still cracks at 110–120 dB, louder than a jackhammer.
• Poaching detectability. A fair concern, and one answered by permit-based or registered access rather than blanket prohibition — the very model NSW ran for years without incident, and has now abandoned.
• False sense of security. Real — suppressed supersonic ammunition is still hazardously loud. The evidence-based position is moderator plus hearing protection, not instead of it.

That's the whole ledger. Large, well-documented health benefits on one side; manageable, largely mythological risks on the other.

The world has moved. NSW hasn't.

In June 2026, the United Kingdom — a country with firearms laws at least as strict as ours — removed sound moderators from its firearms licensing regime entirely under the Crime and Policing Act 2026. No certificate variation, no waiting. The British shooting association BASC noted moderators made up a third of all entries on the UK licensing system; deregulation freed that entire administrative burden overnight.

New Zealand sells moderators over the counter. In much of Scandinavia they're considered basic hunting etiquette — good manners toward your neighbours and your dog. Australia now sits alongside only a handful of Western nations, such as Canada and Spain, in maintaining near-total prohibition.

And here's the irony: Australia's own National Code of Practice for noise management says engineering controls at the source should always come before personal protective equipment. In every other industry, we muffle the machine before we hand out earplugs. Shooting is the one workplace where the muffler is banned.

NSW isn't just standing still. It's reversing.

For a while, NSW looked like the state most likely to lead. Following the Allen decision in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and sustained pressure from shooting and farming bodies, roughly 240 permits were issued over recent years — overwhelmingly to primary producers and professional pest controllers with a demonstrated occupational need. Around 240 quiet rifles working paddocks and feral control programs, and not a single resulting public safety incident anyone can point to.

Then, in almost the same month the UK deregulated, word came through the NSW Farmers annual conference that the government has moved to revoke existing suppressor permits — with holders reportedly told police would be at their door to reclaim the devices within weeks. NSW Farmers responded by passing a resolution pressing the health and welfare case for suppressors: reduced noise exposure for farmers and workers doing repeated pest control, less disturbance to livestock and neighbours, and more effective feral animal control.

Consider what this looks like through an occupational health lens. These are professional users. The state assessed them individually, confirmed their genuine need, and granted them an engineering control endorsed by the CDC, NIOSH, the American Academy of Otolaryngology and the National Hearing Conservation Association. It is now confiscating that control and sending those same workers back into the field with earplugs — the exact arrangement Australia's own noise management code of practice says should be the last resort, not the first. In any other industry, an employer who stripped working noise controls off its workforce would be explaining itself to SafeWork. In NSW shooting, it's policy.

The science is unambiguous. The international experience is reassuring. The state's own permit trial ran for years without a problem. What's left is perception — a Hollywood myth doing the work that evidence should.

The bottom line

Sound moderators are hearing protection. In the space of a few weeks, the UK took a third of the items off its firearms register by recognising that fact — while NSW began knocking on farmers' doors to collect theirs. Two governments looked at the same device and the same evidence; one followed the science, the other followed the myth. Hearing loss is permanent. Policy doesn't have to be — and the professionals who just lost their moderators, and every shooter who stands to lose their hearing, deserve a decision based on evidence rather than optics.

Quick answers

Are silencers legal in NSW?

Silencers are classified as prohibited weapons under the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 (NSW). Possessing one legally requires a prohibited weapons permit from the NSW Firearms Registry, and the applicant must show the silencer is necessary — not merely useful — for a genuine reason. Historically, approvals went almost exclusively to primary producers and professional pest controllers, and the 2026 revocations have restricted access further. Always confirm the current position with the NSW Firearms Registry before applying.

What's the difference between a silencer, a suppressor and a sound moderator?

Nothing — they're three names for the same device, a muzzle attachment that works like a car muffler. It reduces the noise of a gunshot by roughly 17–35 dB depending on calibre and ammunition, but never silences it: even a suppressed .22LR is still louder than a jackhammer.

Are suppressors legal anywhere in Australia?

Every Australian state and territory treats suppressors as prohibited or highly restricted items. Limited permit or exemption pathways exist in some jurisdictions, generally confined to occupational users such as professional pest controllers — a sharp contrast with New Zealand, where they're sold over the counter, and the UK, which removed them from firearms licensing in June 2026.

Magnum Sports supports evidence-based firearms policy. If you're a permit holder affected by the recent revocations, or want to add your voice through your club, SSAA branch or NSW Farmers, drop in and talk to us — 19 Babbage Road, Roseville Chase, (02) 9882 2689.

Image: Richard R via Unsplash