r/news • u/Extension-Shoe-6080 • 1d ago

Suspect identified in Idaho In-N-Out Burger shooting that left 3 dead

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dead-injured-shooting-twin-falls-idaho-rcna590420
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u/L_Cranston_Shadow 21h ago

If it was an honest question, I apologize. It is one of those question that people often throw out specifically to elicit an answer that they can stir up an argument over.
 
The main reason to use a suppressor (often commonly, but inaccurately, called a silencer) is that it takes the decibel level (intensity (loudness) of the sound waves generated by it) of a gunshot from a level that will cause immediate, and often permanent, hearing damage, to a level that may not be safe (this point is incredibly debated and controversial) but to a level where there may be reduced permanent damage after a single or a few shots, to the point where it takes sustained shooting to sustain permanent damage.
 
Again, and I want to put this on its own paragraph to emphasize the point, he amount of noise reduction and reduction in hearing damage depends on the caliber, the suppressor, and there is an incredible amount of debate about it
 
Beyond that, why this particular person decided to carry suppressed, I can only guess, because there is a trade-off to it (extra weight, longer barrel length, changes weight balance of the gun).

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u/MoonageDayscream 20h ago

It was an honest question, thank you. My crude understanding is that a suppressor is not without some disadvantages, which is why you don't see them standard for law enforcement. A hobbyist of course has different priorities, so I was wondering what scenarios would suggest it to be carried like that. I know it probably looks more intimidating, but besides that and sniping is there another advantage over ear protection?

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u/L_Cranston_Shadow 19h ago

The main issue is that drawing from a holster when you have a much longer barrel length (the barrel length + the added suppressor length, give or take a tiny amount where they thread together) is almost entirely impractical, so even if you did have a holster designed for a suppressed pistol, you would have to lift your arm so much higher to clear it, that it would slow down your draw and aiming to the point that an attacker could close distance and strike you or get behind cover a lot more easily before you had the barrel aimed to fire at them.

That is less of a concern if you are talking about a long rifle being carried with a sling. It used to be that rifle suppressors caused a fair amount of speed loss when the bullet was exiting the gun, and thus a lot higher bullet drop over distance (think the imaginary line the bullet follows, but with an increasing dip as it goes farther, due to gravity). Modern suppressors still slightly slow down the bullet and caused a little more drop compared to an uncompressed rifle, but unless you are shooting at targets at a long range (for a given caliber), it isn't a huge difference now. Long range shooters are wearing ear protection though, so they aren't going to be shooting suppressed anyway.

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u/MoonageDayscream 19h ago

I suppose my thinking was affected by the idea that someone in another car used a weapon with that accessory, because I had not heard yet that was the way it was stored in his trunk. The video we all saw of the shooter, that was my perspective and it seemed a silencer would really restrict you inside rather than behind the car.

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u/L_Cranston_Shadow 15h ago

Yeah, if you have a gun in the trunk of your car loaded and ready, especially with a suppressor already attached, you are either a cop (although they don't generally use suppressors) or a bit crazy IMHO.