Christian Science Monitor: Departure of ATF Chief Victory for Gun Rights Groups

The Christian Science Monitor has this story on the announced resignation of ATF Director B. Todd Jones:

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has never been a favorite with gun rights groups or their champions on Capitol Hill. To put it mildly.

The departure of ATF Director B. Todd Jones this week was “to pursue other opportunities in the private sector,” as the official announcement declared – reportedly to a newly-created senior position with the National Football League (NFL).

But the real reason Mr. Jones’ tenure at the controversial ATF finally came to an end had to do with an attempt to ban certain armor-piercing bullets used in AR-15 assault-style weapons. For the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other pro-gun groups, controlling ammunition is just as objectionable as regulating gun ownership.

The announcement was applauded by pro-rights advocates from the NRA to House Judiciary Chairman and Virginia 6th District Congressman Bob Goodlatte.  At least one anti-rights Democrat also piled on Jones:

“This was sloppily handled and as a result the outcome was surprising, disappointing and even confusing,” Rep. Steve Israel, (D) of New York, told The Hill newspaper. “I hope under the new leadership the ATF can have a more transparent and responsive process.”

Our opponents in Congress want to pick up where Jones left off however.  Israel is backing legislation that would prohibit all forms of so-called "armor-piercing ammunition."   On the pro-rights side, Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, (R) of Wisconsin, is pushing legislation that would eliminate ATF.

ATF Director First Casualty of Ammo Ban Fiasco

The Hill reports that ATF Director B. Todd Jones is resigning following the fiasco that led to the agency temporarily pulling the "green tip" ammo ban proposal:

Jones, who in July 2013 became the first ATF director to be confirmed by the Senate, is departing shortly after the agency dropped a controversial attempt to ban certain armor-piercing bullets used in AR-15 rifles.

The episode was the latest in a series of flaps that has put the Obama administration's ATF at odds with many congressional Republicans. In recent weeks, GOP lawmakers have introduced legislation seeking to tamp down on the agency's authority — and to abolish the ATF altogether.

Attorney General Eric Holder lauded Jones for his service and "groundbreaking" law enforcement initiatives, including an effort to strengthen ballistic imaging technology that recently played a critical role in the investigation of the shooting of two police officers.

Townhall's Katie Pavlich had a great idea on the subject when she posted this comment on Twitter:

Instead of wasting everyone's time confirming a new director, now would be a great time for Congress to abolish ATF http://t.co/2m99ttGH0S
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 20, 2015

Gun Ban Groups Keep Distance from ATF Bullet Ban Proposal

The Hill reports that two gun ban groups, Everytown for Gun Safety and Gabby Giffords' Americans for Responsible Solutions, deny having any part in the ATF proposal to ban 5.56 M855 ball ammunition commonly used AR-15 rifles:

"We have sent dozens of recommendations to the administration on what they can do to prevent gun violence — this ammo proposal has never been one of them," Lamb told The Hill.

Meanwhile, the gun safety group linked to Giffords, Americans for Responsible Solutions, also said it is not interested in any such bullet ban.

"We are focused on keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people and protecting the rights of responsible, law-abiding gun owners, not banning bullets or other forms of hardware," spokesman Mark Prentice told The Hill.

ATF's facade of transparency began to crumble over the weekend when reports surfaced that the agency had already removed the exemption for the ammunition from their new regulation guidebook.  They have since claimed it was a publishing error.  In the end, the weight of the over 80,000 comments submitted and the questions related to the missing exemption in the new guidebook was more than the agency could handle. 

Congress Pushing Back on Obama Ammo Ban

The Hill has the story here.  Rep. Tom Rooney introduced the Protecting Second Amendment Amendment Rights act on Friday which "would prohibit the ATF or any other federal agency from issuing or enforcing any new restriction or prohibition on the manufacture, importation or sale of ammunition in the United States."

Knowing how slowly legislation can move through Congress and the fact the it would have to secure 60 votes in the Senate to advance, the more prudent action would be to attach it to "must pass" legislation as and amendment and then dare Obama to veto it.

Obama's Squeeze Play on Ammunition

Kevin Williamson of National Review has a great article titled A Pincer Movement on Ammunition that discusses how gun owners are now dealing with the ATF on one side and the EPA on the other trying to limit our access to ammunition.

The upshot of all this maneuvering is that the ATF intends to revoke the sporting exemption for certain popular kinds of .223 ammunition, allowing it to be reclassified as armor-piercing and therefore banned, even though it is not designed as armor-piecing ammunition and has no special armor-piercing characteristics. The reason for this is that the feared and hated AR-style rifle has been enjoying a new career as a handgun. This is yet another consumer response to federal regulation: Some people prefer short-barreled rifles, particularly for home-defense situations when they will most likely be used indoors, but federal law makes short-barreled rifles a special category of weapon that requires additional permits and taxes, and some jurisdictions ban them outright. But if you remove the shoulder stock from an AR-style rifle, it’s not a rifle — it’s a handgun, albeit one of the clumsiest and goofiest handguns on the market. But the fact that there is a multi-shot handgun commercially available for those non-lead .223 rounds means that such ammunition can be banned as armor-piercing, even though it is not armor-piercing ammunition, by use or by design. So, everybody goes back to lead, right? Wrong

Environmental groups have been pressuring the EPA to begin regulating — or to ban outright — lead ammunition under the Toxic Substances Control Act. They lost their most recent round when the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the EPA lacks statutory authority to regulate lead ammunition, but when has statutory authority stopped the Obama administration? The FCC has no statutory authority to enact net-neutrality rules — that’s why it has reached back to a 1930s, New Deal–era law for justification. You can be sure that the campaign to use the EPA or other federal agencies to ban lead ammunition is far from over. The U.S. Humane Society already is petitioning the Interior Department to ban lead ammunition on public lands.

Obama can't get what he wants legislatively so he is relying on his agencies to do his bidding.  Gun owners have a habit of reacting when there is a direct challenge as they did after Obama's big gun ban push after the Sandy Hook school shootings but unfortunately, when there is no perceived direct threat, we tend to be less attentive.  We need to understand, this is a direct threat.  If we can't buy ammo, what good are our firearms?  Kevin Williamson spoke with Cam Edwards of NRANews in an extensive interview yesterday about what this threat means.

Oppose ATF 5.56 M855 Ball Ammunition Ban

I guess we now know that President Obama's "Executive Actions" are not limited to granting amnesty to illegal aliens. ATF is seeking to ban commonplace 5.556 M855 ball ammunition because it says the ammunition is "armor piercing."  The agency is seeking pubic comment on this action so now is the time for gun owners to vigorously oppose this ban.  NSSF notes:

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.   They aren't making it easy.  Instead of a web site devoted to comments as most agencies use, you have to email, fax, or write ATF and tell them you oppose the proposal to ban commonly used ammunition for America's most popular sporting rifles.  When you contact ATF, be sure to reference "AP Ammo Comments."  You can contact ATF at:

Email: APAComments@atf.gov 
Fax: (202) 648-9741. 

Mail: Denise Brown, Mailstop 6N-602, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20226: ATTN: AP Ammo Comments.
 

Lautenberg, McCarthy, Go After Online Sale of Ammunition

As predicted after the Aurora theater shooting, the anti-rights lobby is targeting Internet sales of ammunition, since some think that the reported 6000 rounds the shooter had in his possession is just too much for anyone.  Considering that Olympic Champion Kim Rhode said she goes through approximately 1000 rounds a day in practice, it's clear the anti-rights crowd have no idea how many rounds of ammunition a law abiding gun owner may use. The legislation is the brain child of New Jersey U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy.

Lautenberg had this to say at the press conference announcing the proposal:

“If someone wants to purchase deadly ammunition, they should have to come face-to-face with the seller,” said Lautenberg. “It’s one thing to buy a pair of shoes online, but it should take more than a click of the mouse to amass thousands of rounds of ammunition. This legislation is a simple common-sense step that would put safeguards in place to detect suspicious activity, helping to prevent the sale of ammunition to a terrorist or the next would-be mass murderer.”

McCarthy had this to say:

“The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act pulls ammunition sales out of the shadows and into the light, where criminals can’t hide and responsible dealers can act as a line of defense against the planning and stockpiling of a potential mass killer,” McCarthy said. “Law-abiding gun owners and shooters should support this legislation because it hinders criminals from abusing the Second Amendment right that our nation promises and could save innocent lives in the process.”

I didn't know that ammo sales were in the shadows.  Does that mean because people purchase clothing, movie tickets, dog food, and books online they are doing that in the "shadows" too?

Here are the details of the proposal:

The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act works through four components:

• It requires anyone selling ammunition to be a licensed dealer.
• It requires ammunition buyers who are not licensed dealers to present photo identification at the time of purchase, effectively banning the online or mail order purchase of ammo by regular civilians.
• It requires licensed ammunition dealers to maintain records of the sale of ammunition.
• It requires licensed ammunition dealers to report the sale of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition to an unlicensed person within any five consecutive business days.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already said there is no time on the Senate schedule to take up gun control.  However, it won't hurt to let Senator's Webb and Warner know you don't support this legislation.

Hat tip to the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.