Posted on 03/12/2015 11:39:08 AM PDT by Red Steel
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Thursday raised new concerns about surplus military ammo used in popular AR-15 rifles and pistols just days after pulling back on a proposal to ban the ammo because it could threaten police safety.
In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, ATF Director B. Todd Jones said all types of the 5.56 military-style ammo used by shooters pose a threat to police as more people buy the AR-15-style pistols.
"Any 5.56 round" is "a challenge for officer safety," he said. Jones asked lawmakers to help in a review of a 1986 bill written to protect police from so-called "cop killer" rounds that largely exempted rifle ammo like the 5.56 because it has been used by target shooters, not criminals.
His agency's move to ban the 5.56 M855 version was condemned by the National Rifle Association and majorities in the House and Senate and as a result was pulled back though not abandoned. At the hearing Jones said that nearly 90,000 comments on the proposal were received, many negative.
As a result, he said that the ATF will suspend rewriting the "framework" used to exempt armor piercing ammo from sale or use. "It probably isn't going to happen any time soon," he said. Jones also said, "We are not going to move forward."
The 5.56 M855 round, he said, is military surplus, typically has a green tip and was used in the M-16. There are several versions of the 5.56. The M855carries a bullet that can penetrate police body armor, though shooters often debate that.
The ATF singled it out for a ban because more AR-15 style pistols that can shoot the ammo are being produced and presumably could be used by criminals in police shootouts. The AR-15 can also shoot the less lethal .223 round, which was not targeted by ATF in the ban proposal.
Police groups, however, said the pistols are not being used against cops.
The NRA and some 52 senators said they also feared that the ATF move was an Obama administration bid for gun control targeted at the AR-15.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck....
All I had to do was look at his picture and Bingo , I knew he was appointed by Obama
The ATF is a challenge to civil rights and freedom.
Let’s ban the damn thing.
Virtually all rifle ammo above .22 cal can penetrate type 2 body armor. Is the ATF going to basically outlaw hunting with anything other than .22s and shotguns by banning rifle ammo?
“New” concerns?! Has AR 15 become nuclear? Has kryptonite been added?
They’re gearing up for a civil war?
More and more they point to the common citizen as a violent threat.
It’s really amazing.
No surprise here. Expected all along
the .223 round is virtually identical to a 5.56 round and most AR-15s can shoot either interchangeably. Both are equally lethal as they are essentially the same thing.
In a heartbeat...if we let them.
Green-colored 40 ton dumptrucks pose a distinct threat to Law Enforcement Officers that are directing traffic, therefore, these Green-colored 40 ton dumptrucks require special regulation.
C’mon man, we’re talking about libtards here. Their understanding of a gun comes from movies. Why’d you think they came up with the term “assault weapon’? It came straight out their ass, I mean brain...
If AR style pistols are so dangerous, why aren’t they banned?
FUATF
This is why the gun industry begged people not to make home-brew AR15 pistols for years. Once a pistol fires .223, all .223 ammo can be outlawed.
ATF Director B. Todd Jones in name only , Obama White House really runs it
Since when do we ask the police unions which of our freedoms they approve of?
Yes.
All ammo fired from every firearm poses a threat. It supposed to work that way and it has nothing to do with 2a rights. This guy probably thinks that there is such a thing as a safe firearm. What a progressive dolt.
ATF doubling down.
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