Dispelling Hollywood's Mistruth about Suppressors with Mike Pappas

Dead Air's Mike Pappas joins State of the Second hosts John and Kaylee to clear up what most people get wrong about suppressors, starting with the Hollywood myth that they make a gun whisper-quiet. As Pappas puts it, that sound is "a made up sound effect." He walks through the real tradeoffs of owning a can, the added length, weight, heat, cost, and the wait time, and explains why the benefits still win out: hearing protection, a better shooting experience, and being a more considerate neighbor at the range. Pappas shares how he got into the industry. He started as an auto mechanic who was always into guns, managed a gun store in Salt Lake, was one of the original people who started SilencerCo where he spent about five years, and then launched Dead Air in 2014 with Eric Rogers, doing their first SHOT Show in 2015. He breaks down the regulatory reality of building suppressors under a manufacturing FFL with an SOT, the Form 2 and Form 3 paperwork, and the $200 stamp. He's candid that some of the rules don't make sense to him, but the company follows them to the letter. The conversation turns political and cultural. Pappas and the hosts discuss the SHUSH Act and Senator Mike Lee's push to take suppressors off the NFA registry to Title One, what deregulation would mean for the market, and why suppressor hunting is expanding state by state. Kaylee makes the case that gun owner inaction is the real threat, pointing to record-setting comment campaigns against rules like the universal background check rule, the Green Tip ammo ban attempt, and the frame and receiver serialization push. They close on community: events like CanCon, Thunder Beast's open suppressor data gathering, and Red October, and the idea that video games and movies are an on-ramp that gets new people interested in the real thing. Pappas points listeners to deadairarmament.com. Linksdeadairsilencers.comQuestions this episode answers Why don't real suppressors sound like the quiet ones in movies and video games? Mike Pappas says the near-silent gunshot you hear in Hollywood is a made-up sound effect, and that a real suppressor is not anywhere close to that. A can reduces the report enough to protect hearing and improve the shooting experience, but it does not make a gun whisper-quiet. How did Mike Pappas get into the silencer business and start Dead Air? Pappas was an auto mechanic who was always into guns, then managed a gun store in Salt Lake and became one of the original people who started SilencerCo, where he spent about five years. He launched Dead Air in 2014 with Eric Rogers and did the company's first SHOT Show in 2015. What paperwork and licensing does a company need to manufacture suppressors? A company builds suppressors under a manufacturing FFL with an SOT, files Form 2 and Form 3 paperwork, and the customer's transfer carries the $200 tax stamp. Pappas admits some of the rules don't make sense to him, but Dead Air follows them to the letter. What would the SHUSH Act and moving suppressors to Title One mean for the industry? The SHUSH Act and Senator Mike Lee's push would take suppressors off the National Firearms Act registry and treat them as Title One items, removing the $200 stamp and the long wait. Pappas calls that wait the biggest barrier to entry for any silencer company, so deregulation would open the market. Why is suppressor hunting becoming legal in more states? Suppressor hunting is expanding state by state as more legislatures allow it, part of the broader shift toward treating cans as normal gear. Pappas frames suppressor use as being a more considerate, polite neighbor to your fellow shooters. Why does gun owner inaction matter, and how have ATF comment periods been beaten back? Host Kaylee argues that gun owner inaction is the real threat to the Second Amendment, and that record-setting comment campaigns beat back rules like the universal background check rule, the Green Tip ammo ban attempt, and the frame and receiver serialization push. Why are new gun owners fast-tracking straight to suppressors and higher-end gear? The episode discusses how new gun owners are skipping ahead to suppressors and higher-end gear rather than working up to them slowly. Video games and movies act as an on-ramp that gets new people interested in the real thing. What do events like CanCon, Thunder Beast, and Red October do for the suppressor community? Events like CanCon and Red October, along with Thunder Beast's open gathering of suppressor data, let people try cans firsthand and build community around them. Pappas points listeners to deadairarmament.com to learn more about Dead Air. Chapters 00:00 — What deregulation would mean for the market 00:29 — Meet Mike Pappas of Dead Air 01:16 — From SilencerCo to starting Dead Air 03:04 — How Mike got into silencers 05:18 — ATF rules, FFL/SOT, and the paperwork 07:03 — The SHUSH Act and the wait-time barrier 08:11 — Why new owners go straight to suppressors 11:32 — Suppressor hunting expanding across states 12:48 — Senator Mike Lee and the NFA fight 18:21 — Comment periods and gun owner inaction 22:51 — Dispelling the Hollywood-quiet myth 25:59 — Could firearms be erased from media? 31:08 — Thunder Beast and how suppressor data is gathered 32:50 — CanCon, range days, and trying it yourself 39:46 — Where to find Dead Air About the guest Mike Pappas is from Dead Air, a suppressor company he started in 2014 with Eric Rogers; the company did its first SHOT Show in 2015. He was one of the original people who started SilencerCo, where he spent about five years. Before that he made his living as an auto mechanic, was always into guns, and got into the firearms business by managing a gun store in Salt Lake. He is based in Utah and runs a small YouTube channel of his own. Dead Air's website is deadairarmament.com. Key quotes "Fighting mistruth is the struggle of mankind." — Mike Pappas "it's not anywhere close to Hollywood" — Mike Pappas "The biggest barrier to entry for any silencer company is the wait time." — Mike Pappas "inaction on our part will always bring the greatest form of destruction to the second amendment." — Kaylee "Every new rule is a new restriction." — Mike Pappas "I think it just goes to be more polite and a better neighbor to your fellow men." — Mike Pappas