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Oppose 5.56 M855 BAN |
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Chris Farris
TEAM SWFA - Admin swfa.com Joined: October/01/2003 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 8024 |
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Posted: February/16/2015 at 14:28 |
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ATF: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has announced it is seeking to ban commonplace 5.56 M855 ball ammunition
as "armor piercing ammunition." ATF is seeking public comment on the
proposal, so all industry
employees, target shooters and gun owners should contact ATF to oppose this
unnecessary ban, which is truly a solution in search of a
problem and that raises serious questions about executive agency attitude and
overreach. Stopped cold on Capitol Hill, this action appears to be the Obama
administration's attempt to pursue gun control by other means. Commonly available steel-core,
"green tip" M855 and SS109 rifle ammunition that is primarily
intended and regularly used for "sporting purposes," like target
shooting, has been exempt from federal law banning armor piercing ammunition
for decades. There is no question that the 5.56 ball ammo has been in wide use
by law abiding American citizens for sporting purposes. It is with the increasing
prevalence of handgun versions of rifle platforms, that ATF now apparently sees
an opening to now ban the widely used M855 and SS109 ammunition. It would be legally permissible
to continue to possess and use so-defined "armor piercing" ammunition
currently possessed. However, rescinding the decades-old exemption will have a
major impact. It will become illegal to manufacture, import, distribute or sell
at retail this very popular rifle target ammunition. ATF's proposed
"framework" for applying the "sporting purpose" exemption
test rewrites the law passed by Congress to disregard the manufacturer's
intention that a projectile or cartridge is "primarily intended for a
supporting purpose." ATF inappropriately places the focus on how criminals
might misuse sporting ammunition in a handgun. Just as disturbing, language used
by ATF in its long white paper refers to criminals as a "consumer
group." The implication that the industry purposely sells firearms and
ammunition to criminals is misleading and echoes the shopworn charges of the
gun control lobby. Manufacturers will face serious
limitations in their ability to develop and market alternative ammunition in
other popular hunting rounds, such as .308 rifle hunting ammunition, if ATF's
so-called "framework" is adopted. This will have a detrimental effect
on hunting nationwide, especially in California where a total ban on
traditional ammunition for hunting is being phased in now. ATF is soliciting comments on how
it can best implement withdrawal of this exemption while "minimizing
disruption to the ammunition and firearm industry and maximizing officer
safety". Under the proposed framework, 30-06 M2AP cartridges would
continue to be exempt because there are no multi-shot handguns generally
available that accept such ammunition. The proposal is useless since
standard lead-only 5.56 ammunition is "armor piercing" simply due to
the round's velocity. Rifles in this caliber, or any caliber for that matter,
are rarely used in crimes. ATF will accept comments
on this proposal until March 16, 2015. Email or write ATF today and tell them
you oppose this unnecessary, misguided and damaging ban on commonly used
ammunition for America's most popular sporting rifles. Email: APAComments@atf.gov Fax: (202)
648-9741. |
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