A former FBI special agent and retired New York Police Department sergeant asked Monday whether the U.S. will legalize grenades next if Congress passes legislation that would make it easier for Americans to purchase gun silencers.
Manny Gomez appeared on MSNBC to discuss current gun laws the day after a gunman killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500 other after opening fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas.
MSNBC host Brian Williams asked Gomez if he could "make a case" for easing access to silencers, referencing the Hearing Protection Act, a Republican-backed bill currently making its way through Congress that could do just that. The bill is now part of the omnibus SHARE Act, which would reform silencer regulations.
"It gets us more assassinations and a higher crime rate," Gomez responded.
He argued that silencers were created to "nefariously kill people" by producing little evidence and almost no sound. Gomez also said that during his experience in the NYPD, the sound of a gun was an important indication of where the shots were coming from.
Gomez said that sportsmen and hunters would make the argument that silencers are needed for hunting game.
"Numerous other sportsmen have shot from muskets when the founding fathers started the Second Amendment up to now and successfully killed game animals without the use of a silencer," Gomez said. "So where is this logical progression?"
"Are we going to legalize grenades next because sportsmen need the averages to be on their side more?" Gomez asked. "It seems to me we are headed in the wrong direction."