By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
Why do ATF agents need new suppressors for their ARs? No one was willing to answer this simple question, not the private company making the silencers and certainly not the ATF.
However, ATF agents themselves were discussing the new silencers on a website they falsely believed was private.
“We are getting new suppressors. They are currently being rolled out to the field,” one ATF agent wrote on the ATF Association Facebook page, which only allows current and former ATF personnel to join.
Another commenter on the same page said the ATF’s new suppressors are made by HUXWRX Safety Co., and that they are “upper lever” and “good cans.”
The new HUXWRX suppressors can cost from $1,200 to $1,300 a piece, according to the company’s website.
The HUXWRX Safety Co. (formerly OSS Suppressors) did not want to talk either. Company staffers did not respond to messages left on their website, emails or messages left for their spokesperson.
However, the ATF actually commented on-the-record, although it took a week for them to email one quote, and they didn’t say much.
“We can confirm that suppressors were provided to qualifying agents in the Criminal Investigation Occupation Series 1811 for health and safety due to the extensive training and quarterly firearms qualifications they must complete. For operational purposes, ATF does not comment on specific firearms used nor the number of firearms held,” ATF’s Public Affairs Division said in an email.
The ATF’s Criminal Investigation Occupation Series 1811 are agents “responsible for planning, conducting, and managing investigations related to alleged or suspected violations of federal criminal laws.”
The ATF would not say how many agents received the suppressors or why they’re even needed.
“For operational purposes, we cannot provide any additional details,” the ATF said in a follow-up email.
Several years ago, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team contracted with HUXWRX Safety Co. for an unknown number of suppressors.
The contract, worth $4.9 million, was touted as the “largest law enforcement suppressor contract to date.”
“I personally want to thank the FBI and Ballistics Research Facility for running the most comprehensive suppressor down select ever executed by the United States Government,” Rick Elder, CEO of the HUXWRX Safety Co., said in a press release. “The HUXWRX team is extremely proud to support the tip of the spear of Law Enforcement professionals within the United States of America.”
Takeaways
Heavily armed ATF personnel have created nothing but problems for the agency and especially the public.
On March 19 of last year, ATF “operators” conducted an early morning raid of Bryan Malinowski’s home in West Little Rock. A gunfight ensued, which was directly caused by ATF’s poor choice of raid tactics. An ATF agent who has never been named shot Malinowski in the head with his carbine. Malinowski, a 53-year-old airport executive director with no prior criminal history, died of his wounds two days later. His family insists he didn’t know he was trading gunfire with federal agents. Instead, they say he thought he was defending himself and his wife from armed home invaders.
Other victims of ATF’s raids have said they and their families were extremely terrified and believed they would be killed. Ask Mark Manley, Russell Fincher, Peter Brennan, David Schieferle or Patrick “Tate” Adamiak if you want more information.
Fortunately, the Trump Administration seems very aware of ATF’s problems, especially when it comes to its budget. Two White House sources recently told Reuters that ATFs proposed fiscal 2026 budget would be its lowest since 2016. Meanwhile, a growing group of elected officials are calling for the ATF to be eliminated completely.
The ATF has proven it cannot be trusted to carry out its normal duties. Far too many of its members view themselves as a high-speed SWAT team, rather than mere federal agents.
Hopefully, President Donald J. Trump will take away the ATF’s new suppressors, and it we’re lucky, their ARs and handguns will soon follow.
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