Silencers are properly known as sound suppressors and are among the least understood of all firearm accessories. Long marginalized as an assassin’s tool, this extremely useful accessory was designed to reduce the audible sound signature of the firearm on which it is mounted. The basic premise is by trapping the hot gasses of the fired cartridge at the muzzle and slowly cooling them in the same manner that an automobile muffler performs on a car’s exhaust. This was meant as a means of hearing protection for the shooter and those in the immediate vicinity.