The National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun rights groups are fighting to change the public perception of “silencers” — or “sound suppressors” — that reduce the noise of gunfire.

Although the gun industry originally popularized the word “silencer” a century ago, now lobbyists are hoping to gain some distance from the term in large part because of fears that Hollywood has distorted the name. Their concern is that the popular concept of the device prompts fear about their use, which could in turn influence policy.

Unlike their portrayal in Hollywood films, pro-gun groups have noted that silencers are not completely silent and claim it would be more accurate to refer to these devices as sound suppressors.

They reduce the noise of gunfire enough to protect ears, but not so much that mass shooters could go undetected, the NRA says.

“The [sound suppressors] were a victim of the success of his marketing,” said Knox Williams, president of the American Suppressor Association, which is working with the NRA on this issue. Williams referenced Hiram Percy Maxim, who first used the term in the early 1900s when he invented what he referred to as the Maxim Silencer. The term later caught on with legislators and regulators.

“He labeled it as a silent firearm, and people took it for gospel,” Williams said of Maxim.

The NRA, American Suppressor Association (ASA), and National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) all invited the media to gun ranges this week to demonstrate that sound suppressors are far from silent.

But gun control groups fear using the term “sound suppressor” risks watering down the danger such devices, according to them, represent.

“It’s all semantics,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

“Focusing on the name distracts people from the real conversation,” Watts said. “They did the same thing with the debate over whether to use the term ‘assault rifles’ or ‘semiautomatic rifles,’ and then the whole conversation shifted to ‘What are we going to call these things?’”

“They want to get into semantics about the language, so we don’t talk about how dangerous they are.”

Hey, I know it’s difficult to fathom, but you inside-the-beltway types look stupid when you fabricate crap like this.  No one I know, except for educated gun owners, is talking about the hearing protection act.

Not anyone with whom I work, not anyone with whom I converse every day, no one.  No one is talking about how much they fear suppressors.

So let me tell you what this is all about.  The control lobby doesn’t want guns to be less intrusive and difficult to shoot than they are now.  Right now, they are loud to the point of hurting your ears permanently without hearing protection.  Even with hearing protection they announce their presence.

But with suppressors it will be less intimidating for new shooters, women and others who may have need of learning gunmanship but don’t want the loud noise.  This … the control lobby cannot have.  So beltway folks like The Hill have to make up stuff to seem like all of America is scared of something.

Chattering, fear mongering, making a story where there isn’t one.  Take your pick, or add to the list.