Personally, I keep my electronic earmuffs in the bedstand. Those go on after weapon(s) are acquired, and besides protection, actually enhance one's hearing as an added benefit.
40 years this would NOT have happened. But we have lowered standards so far that just about anyone with a pulse can become a cop, see James Comey
In the Colorado police murder, yes, I call it murder, the cop was trigger happy and has a record of shooting people. He did not assess the situation, he did not attempt to do anything first, other than shoot the homeowner. This is murder and should be treated as such.
I don't see how the homeowner would have benefited from a silence vis-a-vis his murdering cop, but if this gets us hearing protection devices, at least some good could come from his murder.
In hindsight, lesson learned for all of us, once involved in a shooting, once secure, put the gun down. Definitely put the gun down BEFORE OR AS the police arrive. Having a gun in hand, especially at the scene of a shooting is dangerous and, with a trigger happy "shoot first" cop, deadly.
There is so much missing here it is hard to know where to start.
First, the home owner should have put the gun down the instant the cops were in sight. The gun is not needed after the bad guy is out of it.
If the bad guy is only wounded but not out of commission it is up to the cops as soon as they arrive..
As for the cops; Were the blue light bars on? They are so bright around here that even if the squad cars are on the other side of the building, the lights reflect off everything in sight. They are blinding.
Second and even more important, even cops are not supposed to shoot everyone they see with a gun. The gun must pose a threat to them, that is pointed t them. Or the gun must be an immediate threat to a third party. A cop who shoots just because he sees a gun should be prosecuted the same as you or I would be.
Silencers and signs are totally irrelevant. I have a hearing problem. I can hear noises as well as anyone as well as about 75 percent of human voices, but there are some voices that are very difficult. The high pitched fast talking blonds on FOX News are the most difficult to understand. I hear them, but do not get everything they are saying.
The point being that both the homeowner and the cops involved made serious errors. Proper mindset and training is worth more than silencers and signs.
The best thing to be said for a silencer in this case is that the nosy neighbor who called the cops might not have heard the shots and the homeowner would have been the one to call the cops and include an explanation of what took place and what he looked like.
A silencer would do exactly what you want: suppress the noise of the gunfire. It does not SILENCE the weapon. That’s just Hollywood nonsense.
“...using a silencer goes too far...”
Please explain how so.
Won’t work on a deaf guy with his back to the cops.
The man's stepson said the police didn't give any warning so hearing was not an issue.
My primary home-defense handgun has a suppressor. Whether I go with that or with the 12 gauge, I’ll also go with hearing protection (desperately needed with the shotgun!), and the ear protection is right above my guns. Silencers make shooting much more pleasant, and most of my shooting is done with one.
Scilencer is ok.