Supreme Court refuses to consider whether Second Amendment protects gun silencers

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court refused Monday to decide if the Second Amendment protects gun silencers such as the one used in last month's Virginia Beach shooting that killed 12 people.

Without comment or dissent, the justices turned away petitions from the operator of a Kansas army-surplus store and one of his customers who purchased an unregistered silencer in violation of federal law.

Two lower federal courts previously ruled that gun silencers fall outside the scope of the  Second Amendment because they are accessories not in common use by law-abiding citizens.