Silencers Made Simple

Silencer Central is dedicated to making the process of obtaining a silencer easier for target shooters and hunters.

Brandon Maddox is the founder and CEO of Silencer Central. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Silencer Central is the largest firearms silencer dealer in America with locations in the 42 states where silencers are lawful.

The company began life in 2005 as South Dakota Silencer, an events-based business. The goal was to reach the underserved hunting and sport shooting market by simplifying the silencer ownership process. It became Dakota Silencer and finally rebranded as Silencer Central in August 2020.

Maddox took a circuitous route to the silencer market. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he obtained a pharmacy license and began work at Glaxo, a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. His time at Glaxo gave him invaluable exposure to a variety of disciplines, including sales, sales training management, marketing management, and sales management. In addition, he furthered his business acumen by obtaining an MBA from Duke University.

The impetus to start a silencer company came from Maddox’s passion for hunting the grasslands of the Dakotas. He was interested in using suppressed firearms for hunting, and in trying to procure a suppressor realized the process to acquire one was laborious, which, in his mind, explained why so few hunters were purchasing silencers. He made a career pivot, dedicating himself to streamlining and simplifying the process to buy a silencer. He did this mostly by working directly with regulators to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the federal, state, and local compliance requirements.

Maddox has, and continues to be, active in legislative issues impacting his business and his customers. He founded the South Dakota Firearms Industry Association and has testified at numerous state congressional hearings on firearms-related issues. He was recently named to the board of directors of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, where he will contribute his experience, insight, and commitment to preserving the future of the American Sportsman.

SHOT Business: What do you see as the biggest challenge facing your company in the next five years?

Brandon Maddox: We know the biggest barrier that keeps consumers from buying silencers is the perceived obstacles surrounding the ATF paperwork. This also is the key challenge a dealer needs to overcome before a customer is willing to purchase a silencer.

SB: What opportunities do you see?

BM: I have been doing this for almost 20 years, and I have yet to meet a customer who did not absolutely fall in love with a silencer—once they were able to obtain and use one. Silencer Central has revolutionized the process of buying a silencer by mail. This is a major step forward in what is perceived by consumers as an arduous process.

SB: When you get up in the morning, what gets you excited about your work?

BM: Without doubt, educating consumers on the many benefits of using a suppressor for hunting or target shooting. Once a customer uses a suppressor, they are not only hooked indefinitely, but they also get enthusiastic about bringing their friends to the silencer party.

SB: How will you meet the expectations of your customers?

BM: This is an everyday challenge. Amazon has done a remarkable job setting the bar high for consumers on delivery times and turnkey service and ordering. As a federally regulated business, our hands are tied in many ways, which makes the process even more challenging. The key is active communication with the customer; you have to really over communicate to ensure the customer knows what is going on throughout the entire process.  We hired a director of customer experience to ensure this is top of mind—all day, every day. Our key to success today and in the future will be our customers’ experience in how we simplify the process of buying a silencer.

SB: In a very competitive world, how does Silencer Central stay ahead of the pack?

BM: You must be an expert in your field. We have spent almost 20 years thoroughly understanding the ATF requirements to buy and transfer a suppressor to the end user. Passing this knowledge to our team is vital. It’s the only way they can educate the customer, and without an educated consumer, we can’t continue to move forward. Providing unique offerings to the consumer is also key, and the Banish line is a good example of that.

SB: How did your Banish line come to be?

BM: The silencers on the market in 2005 were exclusively tactical in application and appearance. We wanted a product for hunters. Banish focused on all-titanium construction to reduce weight. The design also allows multi-caliber applications. The units are also easily and quickly disassembled for cleaning. Hunters also want super-quiet operation, whereas tactical shooters often seek only hearing-safe operation. Banish products cover a wide range of calibers, from a .17 HMR to a .458 SOCOM.

SB: How will your new facilities in Sioux Falls help product design and delivery?

BM: South Dakota is a very pro-business state that attracts conservative-minded individuals. Our lead engineer left the Northeast U.S. to come to Sioux Falls to lead our development efforts. In a state where so many residents hunt and fully embrace the Second Amendment, we have limited issues recruiting top talent that seek a career in what they enjoy and believe to be their hobby and ideology every day.

SB: Can you give us an update on the e-form ATF process?

BM: Prior to e-forms, a transfer from the manufacturer to the wholesaler to the dealer often took six months to complete.  Needless to say, it’s difficult to run a business when you have a six-month delay before you can get the products to the consumer. The ATF e-forms platform originally became available for silencer transfers to consumers in 2014, though the program ended abruptly in 2015. The ATF relaunched a technically enhanced version in December 2021. During the pandemic, silencer sales soared, which created a massive backlog of silencer transfer paper forms that the ATF needed to work through before working on new e-forms submissions. ATF focused almost solely on clearing the paper forms backlog before working on the electronically submitted e-forms. The e-forms process is currently taking about eight months, but the good news is that the paper forms backlog has been cleared, and the ATF team reports they are focused on e-processing e-forms almost exclusively. We anticipate the wait times to decrease throughout 2023. (silencercentral.com)