Legislature moves suppressor bill to third reading after debate over public safety and hearing loss

The Guam Legislature on Thursday voted to place vetoed Bill 27-38 COR, which would amend provisions of chapter 60, title 10 of the Guam Code Annotated related to firearm suppressors, into the third-reading file so members can consider overriding the governor’s veto.

The motion to advance the bill was made by Senator Parkinson and carried after objections and floor debate. Senator Parkinson argued the measure protects hearing for lawful firearm users and range personnel, saying, “Suppressors are not what we've seen on television. They don't make guns completely silent. They are a safety tool for people who practice with firearms in a responsible manner.” He urged colleagues to be consistent with earlier recorded support for the measure and to allow lawful citizens the option to reduce hearing damage when practicing with firearms.

The governor’s veto message, read to the chamber during debate, raised the opposite concern: broad availability of suppressors could reduce the audible warning that gunfire provides and therefore increase risk to the public. The veto message said, in part, “the need to accessorize a firearm cannot override public safety concerns... The loud sound of gunfire is the most easily recognizable warning that a gun has been fired in a person's vicinity, lawfully or unlawfully, and enables the person who hears that sound to get to safety if necessary.” The veto noted testimony from the Guam Police Department and concerns from teachers and parents about reduced ability to detect a shooting if suppressors were widely available.

Several senators described a narrower compromise they wished had been included in the bill — for example, allowing suppressor use for police and other public-safety officers — but the bill’s sponsor and other supporters said the device can be an important hearing-protection tool for civilians as well as law enforcement. Senator Parkinson said the devices “merely lower the range of the noise to levels that would be less damaging to our hearing.” Opponents cited the GPD’s written testimony and the governor’s veto when urging caution.

By a voice/hand vote the chamber ordered the bill into the third-reading file for a future override vote; no final override vote is recorded in the excerpted transcript.

Next steps: the bill will appear on the legislature’s third-reading file so members can schedule and, if they choose, hold a recorded vote to attempt to override the governor’s veto.