Pump Up the Volume

Up to when the peanut farmer was president, “grin and bear it” was the hearing-protection norm. It must have been hell, and tinnitus be damned—especially back when the Springfield 1873 was the service rifle.

My, how the times have changed! Show up to a shooting range protection nowadays, and they’ll 86 you quicker than if you stiffed a two-month-old bar tab. It makes sense, given what we know about bang-tubes and your auditory organs. One shot, in some circumstances, is enough to set your ears permanently ringing like the bells