New Hampshire gun manufacturer Sig Sauer lost an appeal in a US Appeals Court this week. The dispute was over the classification of a “silencer" device.
Guns with silencers are subject to more regulations than guns without. Eight states ban them altogether. So when the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms classified a muzzle device made by Sig Sauer as a silencer, the New Hampshire gun company fought back.
The company contended that the part was also intended as a muzzle break, and barrel extension, and was not intended solely for the purpose of suppressing sound.
Earlier this week, a federal appeals court affirmed the lower court ruling that the bureau’s classification of the silencer is accurate.