Did gunman’s ‘silencer’ make a difference in the carnage?

The shooter who killed 12 people in a government office building in Virginia Beach used a firearm equipped with a suppressor that muffles the sound of gunfire.

It’s the nightmare scenario that gun-control advocates have warned about amid efforts to ease restrictions on buying the devices.

They say the “silencers” make it too easy for shooters to escape detection and inflict mass carnage.

But gun-rights advocates and most law enforcement experts say DeWayne Craddock’s use of a suppressor on his .45-calibre handgun likely had no bearing on his ability to kill so many people in so little time Friday.

Instead, they say, his familiarity with the building as an employee and even possibly his military background gave him a tactical advantage in carrying out the rampage.

Lisa Marie Pane, The Associated Press