Free Republic

Apparently not content with its efforts so far to make gun ownership more difficult and expensive for America’s 100 million firearm owners, a source tells TTAG that the Biden administration is taking steps to constrict the availability of .223/5.56 ammunition available to the average shooter. A person with knowledge of the situation tells us that, more than just “considering” the move, Winchester, which operates the US Army’s Lake City ammunition plant, has been informed that it may no longer sell M855 and SS109 ammunition produced in excess of the military’s needs on the civilian market. How would that affect the...

It is much harder to take some one's pension after they have retired.  I suspect that B. Todd Jones has decided to leave the agency because his fingerprints are all over emails and other digital trails leading to the attempted, and likely illegal ban on M855 and SS109 ammunition.  From thehill.com: The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is stepping down following controversy surrounding the agency’s proposal to ban certain types of ammunition. The ATF announced Friday that Director B. Todd Jones is resigning at the end of the month “to pursue other opportunities...

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...

Columbia, MO --(Ammoland.com)- Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of MidwayUSA, will make a $100,000 donation to the NRA/ILA National Endowment for the Protection of the Second Amendment. The donation is being made in honor of NRA/ILA’s hard work in rallying NRA members and Congress to combat the ATF’s proposed changes to the M855/SS109 ammo exemption framework. The donation also celebrates ATF’s recent decision to refrain from seeking to issue a final framework at this time.

Thank you for your interest in ATF's proposed framework for determining whether certain projectiles are “primarily intended for sporting purposes” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(C). The informal comment period will close on Monday, March 16, 2015. ATF has already received more than 80,000 comments, which will be made publicly available as soon as practicable. Although ATF endeavored to create a proposal that reflected a good faith interpretation of the law and balanced the interests of law enforcement, industry, and sportsmen, the vast majority of the comments received to date are critical of the framework, and include issues that...

No excuse not to have your voice heard.

K. Gross made these images to show the inner construction of the M855 and SS109 projectiles, or bullets.  You can see the steel tip in front of the lead core.  The mostly copper jacket is the layer around the outside in the images. I do not have contact information for Mr. Gross;  I will gladly take down the picture or provide a link as he may desire.  I believe that he would like these images made available to inform the public.   Here is the definition of "armor piercing ammunition" from the applicable federal code: (B) The term “armor...

On Friday February 13 at 4:00 pm, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms released a proposal to ban commonly used M855 "green tip" AR-15 ammunition under the guise of law enforcement safety. The same day the proposal was released, on a Friday of a three day holiday weekend, ATF opened up a shortened 30-day period for the public to submit comments about the new regulation. But it turns out, ATF has been working on a ban of AR-15 "green-tip" ammunition for quite some time and has already issued the ban in its new, 2014 Regulation Guide. For reference,...

A majority of House lawmakers now are on record opposing the Obama administration’s proposed ban on ammunition commonly used in AR-15 rifles. A total of 239 lawmakers, including seven Democrats, have signed a letter to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Todd Jones urging the agency to abandon the proposed ammo ban. “Under no circumstances should ATF adopt a standard that will ban ammunition that is overwhelmingly used by law-abiding Americans for legitimate purposes,” the lawmakers wrote Wednesday. Among them was Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said this week that President...

On Friday, Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) introduced legislation revoking the ATF’s claim of power to regulate ammunition via “armor piecing” language in the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). The ATF is specifically claiming the ability to regulate ammunition via the “armor piercing” language contained in the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act, an amendment added to the GCA in 1986. Their current focus is on banning the wildly popular M855 round for AR-15 rifles. Rooney’s bill would roll back the ATF’s powers to pre-1986 levels. According to The Hill, Rooney’s bill “would prohibit the ATF or any other federal agency...

As it wanes, the Obama administration grows bold, and even reckless, on matters that send a thrill up the leg of its most leftward supporters. Its new attack on so-called armor-piercing ammunition — which is, in reality, a very broad attack on ammunition across the board — is a dangerous and destructive example of the administration’s late-days slide into rule-by-decree. A little background, which is unavoidably weedy: In 1986, Congress revised the Gun Control Act, inserting prohibitions against the manufacture and import of “armor-piercing ammunition.” Armor-piercing ammunition does not mean ammunition designed to defeat body armor — that would be...

In a move clearly intended by the Obama Administration to suppress the acquisition, ownership and use of AR-15s and other .223 caliber general purpose rifles, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives unexpectedly announced today that it intends to ban commonplace M855 ball ammunition as “armor piercing ammunition.” The decision continues Obama’s use of his executive authority to impose gun control restrictions and bypass Congress. It isn’t even the third week of February, and the BATFE has already taken three major executive actions on gun control. First, it was a major change to what activities constitute regulated “manufacturing”...

The military is reviewing soldiers' complaints that their standard ammunition isn't powerful enough for the type of fighting required in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army's highest-ranking officer said Thursday. But Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said it was too soon to say whether the Pentagon will switch. Current and former soldiers interviewed by The Associated Press said the military's M855 rifle rounds are not powerful enough for close-in fighting in cities and towns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Speaking with reporters at a conference in Huntsville, Casey said leaders are constantly soliciting feedback from soldiers in...