Ammunition
Since the 1960s, gun control supporters have tried to get one or another variety of ammunition banned, severely restricted, prohibitively taxed or excessively regulated, to discourage the acquisition of guns and undermine their use.
For example, though the Gun Control Act of 1968 preamble stated that the law was not intended “to place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms,” the law required purchasers of handgun-caliber ammunition and rifle-caliber ammunition that could be used in a handgun to sign ledgers documenting their purchases. Because the requirement resulted in a massive amount of paperwork that served no law enforcement purpose, Congress in 1982 rescinded it as it applied to .22 rimfire ammunition and in 1986, as part of the Firearms Owners Protection Act, rescinded it as it applied to center-fire ammunition.
In the 1980s, gun control supporters claimed they wanted to restrict new handgun bullets made of metals harder than lead, which had been invented to enable law enforcement officers shoot through walls and doors, but they instead pushed legislation that would have banned traditional ammunition manufactured with bullets made of lead, commonly used for self-defense, hunting and sports. The Departments of Justice and the Treasury, and the NRA, opposed the legislation and the NRA helped write the “armor piercing ammunition” law that Congress instead adopted in 1986.
In the 1990s, gun control supporters again proposed banning traditional ammunition, a move rejected by the Treasury Department. Separately, they also sought a 1,000 percent tax on 9mm, .25, and .32 caliber ammunition, a 50 percent tax on all handgun ammunition, a ban on mail-order ammunition sales, a requirement for a background check to purchase ammunition, and a limit on the amount of ammunition a person could own without an “arsenal license.”
In February 2015, two years after failing to get Congress to ban the AR-15 and other general-purpose rifles, the Obama administration attempted to bypass Congress to ban the second most common ammunition used in the rifle. It withdrew the proposed ammunition ban after a majority in each house of Congress and over 80,000 Americans opposed the ban in letters and emails to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Congress threatened to reduce the chronically problematic agency’s budget.
Gun control supporters quickly took advantage of the situation to again call for a ban on traditional ammunition, like the bans that Congress rejected in 1986, and the Treasury Department rejected in 1997. Meanwhile, gun control supporters are trying to get traditional ammunition banned on environmental grounds as well.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Hunters and shooters are up in arms about the federal government's proposed new explosives regulations, which they say ...
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
State. Rep. Jerry Costello II (D Smithton) issued the following statement regarding a myriad of anti gun proposals ...
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
An Illinois lawmaker wants gun owners to shell out extra taxes in order to finance a new grant ...
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Thanks to the overwhelming number of phone calls and e-mails from dedicated NRA members, the New Jersey Assembly ...
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
After a massive outcry from the Second Amendment community against A588 (backdoor ammo ban) and A1013 (defacing firearms ...
Monday, January 30, 2012
In today’s society, the use of traditional ammunition (lead ammunition) is constantly under attack. Senate Bill 6209, sponsored ...
Friday, January 27, 2012
On Monday, January 30, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to consider Assembly ...
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Hawaii Legislature convened on Wednesday, January 18. There are several bills that have been carried over from ...
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
On Sunday, California gun owners and sportsmen were dealt another blow when Governor Jerry Brown signed into law ...
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The final day for Governor Jerry Brown to veto or sign into law four pending anti-guns bills is ...