Jeff Twigg

Opinion contributor

I was sitting in class at Virginia Tech when the gunman opened fire down the hallway. I remember the sound of the gunshots. Despite becoming accustomed to the loud masonry work around my classroom that semester, I knew that this was different. The loud and piercing sound of the gunfire let me know that something terrible was happening. My professor quickly braced himself against the door as my classmates and I opened windows from which to escape.

It was a 19-foot drop from the windows to the ground. As the gunshots grew louder and louder, I knew it would be dangerous to jump, but even more dangerous to stay put. So I jumped. When I hit the ground, I broke both the tibia and fibula in my left leg. I got out, but 32 people were shot and killed that day, including my classmate and professor.

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Simply put: For me, hearing the sound of gunshots meant the difference between life and death. They were so loud and distinctive that my classmates and I knew to take action immediately. Law enforcement officers rely on the sound of gunfire, too. Police and first responders are expected to hear, locate and react quickly to gunshots.

As a survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting, I know that gun lobby-backed legislation being pushed through Congress could make mass shootings even more deadly, and make it more difficult for law enforcement to do their jobs and keep people safe.

I’m talking about the Sportsmen’s Heritage And Recreational Enhancement Act. The SHARE Act includes the so-called Hearing Protection Act, a proposal that was drafted, with help from the gun-silencer industry, to gut longstanding silencer safety laws and make it easy for anyone to buy a silencer without a background check.

For decades, a federal law called the National Firearms Act has overseen the sale of silencers, allowing law-abiding citizens to buy silencers while preventing them from getting into the wrong hands. If you want to buy a silencer now, you can in 42 states, after passing a criminal background check.

The SHARE Act would remove silencers from the National Firearms Act and for the first time in more than 80 years, make it easy for anyone — including felons, domestic abusers and people with dangerous mental illnesses, such as the gunman at Virginia Tech — to buy silencers without a background check, simply by finding an unlicensed seller.

It’s a bill that should frighten everyone. Gun silencers exist for one reason: to distort the sound of a gunshot. That’s why, in the wrong hands, they put our safety at risk and make it harder for law enforcement to do their jobs and protect public safety.

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With so many important things to accomplish through Congress, I can’t begin to understand why this legislation, which will make us less safe and endanger lives, has become a priority of the gun lobby and Congress.

With gun company sales slipping, the gun lobby thinks this legislation could grow the profits of companies that sell silencers. At least, that’s what the CEOs of gun and silencer companies have said.

It’s worth mentioning that the Virginia Tech shooting was far from the only time that survivors heard gunshots and knew they had to react quickly. More recently, in Alexandria, Va., members of Congress were practicing for the congressional baseball game when a gunman opened fire. Those who were there said that they, too, recognized the sound of gunshots and knew to take cover in the dugout.

Now we have dozens dead and hundreds injured in Las Vegas. I don't even want to imagine how much worse it could have been if the shooter had a silencer.

Congress should put public safety first and vote against the SHARE Act. Lives are on the line.

Jeff Twigg, a Maryland-based computer engineer and a member of the Everytown Survivor Network, was a student at Virginia Tech during the campus shooting in April 2007. When the shooter broke into his classroom, Jeff survived by jumping out of a window.