@3psboyd I believe someday we will find out exactly how easy it is to intentionally destroy a satellite, and find out several governments have possessed the ability to do this for possibly decades, and the first time someone demonstrates the ability we will all pretend to be very surprised.

@mcc Astronaut sidling up to the satellite casually and doing a double-tap with a silenced revolver

@mcc There's no sound in space but he thinks the silencer is important for the aesthetics of the deed.

@3psboyd *thinks* silencers don't actually silence the sound of the bullet, what they do is the silence the sound of escaping gases by diverting them in a way that slows them down and gives them additional exit points. for this reason, when firing a gun in space, a silencer is actually probably desirable, not because it silences sound but because it could potentially damp recoil by preventing the escaping gases from imparting momentum on you (by releasing gas 360 degrees it cancels itself out)

@3psboyd @mcc what you're looking for here is either a "muzzle break" which reduces felt recoil by redirecting some gasses back towards the shooter, a "recoilless rifle" which fires rounds that simultaneously launch a bullet and vent gasses out the back of the gun to completely cancel out recoil, or even a "gyro-jet" which is an obscure gun that launches a tiny rocket instead of a regular bullet.

@3psboyd @mcc there are combined silencers/muzzle brakes, though in practice they trend to work at cross purposes.
There are also all manner of odd mechanical contrivances to absorb, delay, or redirect felt recoil.
For example there are a number of larger guns that have a built in reciprocating elements that spread out the impulse of firing over up to a half second or so.