Silencers(also called sound suppressors) have been around for a long time -- in fact, the muffler on most modern power lawn mowers are a variation of the first successful silencer designed by Dr. Hiram Maxim (the inventor of the world's first automatic machine gun). The idea of the Maxim silencer (and those since) is to reduce the muzzle blast and flash of the firearm and reduce the sound level of the supersonic gases. The Maxim silencer swirls the burning propellant gas to allow it to burn within the silencer, cool it down, and has baffles to diffuse the sound signature.
Prior to the National Firearms Act of 1934, silencers were readily available over the counter for many firearms. Shooters used them to reduce the sound signature of firearms while target shooting and hunting. However, the NFA of 1934 lumped silencers under "gangster" weapons like sawed-off shotguns and machine guns. Silencers were subject to registration and the payment of a $200 tax stamp. The NFA does not make private ownership of silencers, destructive devices, short-barrel rifles, sawed-off shotguns, and machine guns illegal -- it has the owner register them with BATFE and pay a tax on them. After this is done, the device is perfectly legal to use, provided your state law does not restrict ownership.
To be truly silent, the projectle of a firearm must be subsonic. A supersonic projectile will always produce a ballistic "crack" when its shockwave passes something -- for example, a line of fence poles -- because the poles make the sonic boom of the shockwave audible. Candidates for "silent" pistols include the .22 Short and the .45 ACP because both are subsonic cartridges.
Before we talk about the real world of silencers/suppressors, we need to talk about the make-believe world of Hollywood. Hollywood routinely shows silencers in their movies. If you beleive what you see in the movie, the silencer is very quiet and efficient. The truth is that these movie silencers are fakes and the "sound of the silencer" is dubbed in after the scene is filmed. The average silencer does not completely make the shot silent. Instead it muffles the shot and makes it difficult to locate the shooter. Contrary to what you see in Hollywood films, revolvers cannot be suppressed. The burning propellant gas escapes between the cylinder-to-barrel gap and produces a sound signature. Likewise, an efficient suppressor for a .45 usually prevents reliable operation of the pistol in semi-automatic. Hollywood guns with suppressors are designed to work with blanks (and they do so efficiently), but the sound of the suppressed weapon is dubbed into the film in post production.
Silencers mask the muzzle blast and flash of the firearm. This is why the silencers have become more and more used by the military. One of the most efficient silencer/suppressors used during the Vietnam War was the Sionics suppressor used on the M21 sniper rifle. The Sionics unit replaced the front sight and flash suppressor of the standard rifle and screwed onto the end of the firearm. The Sionics suppressor made the location of the sniper impossible to locate at short ranges or confused the enemy as to his location. To assure no chance of muzzle flash at night, a sniper would fire a ball round into the dirt and then put duct tape over the muzzle of the suppressor. The duct tape would trap the burned propellant gas between the muzzle and newly chambered round. The burned propellant gas had no oxygen in it and so the following shot would not produce a flash that could give the sniper's location away. [From personal experience, the Sionics suppressor was so efficient on the M14 rifle that the thing you really noticed was how much noise the action of the rifle made while reloading! Fortunately, the M14 has a gas cutoff on the gas cylinder. When you turn the gas spindle to OFF, you convert the rifle to a straight-pull repeater that is very quiet in comparison to the gas operation.]
Modern silencers use a series of baffles and other mechanical means to diffuse and breakup the muzzle blast of a firearm. Most are very simple units and are easily broken down for cleaning. Some earlier silencers employed foam "wipes" to act as seals to retain gases and help deaden sound. However, the "wipes" soon wore out and had to be replaced in less than 50 shots. For a more complete description of suppressors, Google "rifle suppressors" and look at the Wikipedia entry.
Silencers are not treated in other countries as they are in the United States. Silencers are openly availble in many foreign countries, even those that put draconian restrictions on firearms such as the UK.
Silencers are still legal in the United States -- if you're willing to jump through the hoops in order to own one. Provided you live in a Class III state that allows private ownership of machine guns -- IL does not, IN and WI do -- you can own your own silencer/suppressor. You go to your local Class III dealer and fill out the application to buy the suppressor of your choice. Your application has to be approved by your local law enforcement officer and then it is forwarded to BATFE in Washington, DC along with the appropriate fees. When approved by BATFE, your dealer notifies you and the transfer is completed. The manufacturer then ships the silencer/suppressor to him for your pickup. Depending upon your firearm, many suppressors require that the muzzle of the firearm be threaded to install it. Some installations are as simple as replacing a plain pistol barrel with a threaded replacement; other barrels have to be threaded by a gunsmith.
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