Somebody obviously thought there was a reason to restrict them in the first place. But you're also not looking at this as a whole--you talk about the guns being the "weapons" and thus what should be restricted. We don't do that, and now we have this becoming... less restricted. So just like with the military rifles I'm wondering why a civvie gun owner needs an accessory like that. And as for the saving the hearing thing, LOL.
That's why we wear HEADPHONES at the range. To protect hearing, LOL...
If guns are for protection, because remember that's the crux of this whole thing--we need to be armed or else we're helpless! Why do you need a silencer to defend yourself?
Or everybody could just fess up and we could end this right now: we have them because gun owners want them. We have them because they want to enjoy their hobby.
I personally don't know WTF I would do sticking that on my gun (although you'd need a threaded barrel I believe) and I don't even think you can use those in indoor ranges, although I'm not sure.
Speaking of restrictions, guess who has a lot of those? Gun ranges. Everything from the type of ammo you can and can't use to no double-tapping or rapid firing and no weapons of a certain caliber or above. I mean, safety, right?
Hmmm....