WASHINGTON – A congressional committee considered a bill this week to expand recreational opportunities for hunters and fishermen, but the legislation also would make it easier to buy gun silencers.

The bill’s Republican supporters said during a hearing that silencers would protect the hearing of hunters and gun enthusiasts. Colorado Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, is one of the supporters.

Opponents say easier access to silencers would give murderers more chances of escaping after killing police or other persons.

The Republican-dominated House Natural Resources subcommittee on federal lands plans a markup on Wednesday to send the bill for a final vote of Congress. Senate Democrats are promising a tougher fight to prevent the legislation from winning approval.

Portions of the bill would lift restrictions on registered gun owners carrying weapons across state lines for hunting on National Park Service property. The proposed legislation, called the Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (or SHARE) Act, also expands the list of federal lands where they can carry guns.

In Colorado, federal lands that can be used for recreation include four national parks, eight national monuments and 11 national forests.

Rep. Tom McClintock, chairman of the subcommittee, said one intent of the bill is to “declare our public lands open to hunting and fishing.”

“Every year sportsmen and women contribute about $90 billion to our economy,” said McClintock, R-Calif.

Christopher Sharon, chief operating officer of Hope for the Warriors, a witness at the congressional hearing, said the bill would give veterans opportunities to recover from the trauma of war by broadening their options for hunting and fishing. His nonprofit group offers support to veterans that can include organizing hunting trips.

“Being out in nature calms, it soothes,” Sharon said.

He described one of his trips to hunt turkeys by saying, “About an hour into it, my heart rate was slower, my breathing was slower, I was calm. I was able to think clearly.”

Tipton said he knew of veterans in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District who still suffered after-effects of their military service.

“We’ve had numerous examples of dealing with post-traumatic stress,” he said.

Democrats on the committee cared less about hunting than about risks of gun violence the bill could promote.

“We should not make it easier for anyone to obtain these weapons of war,” said Jimmy Gomez, D-California.

He described a February 2013 incident when fired Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner went on a shooting rampage in which he killed four people and wounded three others. He died during a standoff with police.

Police found a sniper rifle with silencers in the cabin where Dorner died.

Gomez said a silencer muffled the sound of the shots that killed Dorner’s first victims, allowing him to slip away before being detected to murder again.

The main witness criticizing the bill was David Chipman, senior policy advisor for the gun control advocacy group Americans for Responsible Solutions.

He said the current tight regulations on sales of silencers have prevented violence that could be incited with looser restrictions. Silencers muffle the sound of guns and their muzzle flashes at night, making it harder for anyone to locate the shooters.

“If this passes, we’re going to have a new problem that we can’t get back into the barn,” said Chipman, a 25-year veteran of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Under the current National Firearms Act, silencers have the same ownership restrictions as machine guns and explosives. After background checks and fingerprints, the waiting time to purchase one can be nine months.

Under the SHARE Act, the strict screening of applicants to purchase silencers, along with a $200 transfer tax, would be eliminated.

Other provisions of the bill would allow gun owners to carry weapons through jurisdictions where they are banned now, allow wider use of armor-piercing bullets and ease restrictions on importing foreign-manufactured assault rifles.

The powerful National Rifle Association said in a statement last week that the SHARE Act would “protect America’s hunters and recreational shooters and help preserve our outdoor heritage.”

A hearing on the SHARE Act originally scheduled for June was postponed after House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot by a politically-motivated gunman on a baseball field in Alexandria, Va.