Ammo Ban Plan Energizes Congress and Public
The American public's reaction and continuing media attention to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) mission on behalf of the Obama Administration to ban widely-used 5.56 M855 "Green Tip" has been truly impressive. NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane was a guest on the prime-time Fox News Channel program The Kelly File to explain the industry's perspective. Here is a summary of the activity:
- House Letter Signed by Impressive 239 Members . . . More than half of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives, some 239 in all, have signed a letter to ATF Director B. Todd Jones opposing the Obama administration's effort to ban "Green Tip" ammunition. The House letter calls into question the reasoning, manner and fast-track timing behind the bureau's recent announcement. The effort was led by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee. U.S. Senators have undertaken a similar effort signing on to a strongly worded letter to Jones questioning the bureau's authority to end the exemption for M855 ammunition under the sporting purposes test that has been in effect since 1986. The Senate letter was originated by Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
- The White House Sneak Play . . . A late Friday news dump before a holiday weekend is a sure sign that extra effort is being made to obscure something big. And such is the case with the ATF's proposal to end the sporting use exemption for M855 ammo. "The proposed change represents a massive overreach by the Obama administration," writes the NSSF's Larry Keane. "It confirms that the White House is willing to try virtually anything to pursue its gun control agenda in defiance of Congress and existing law. This time they are hiding in plain sight behind ATF and the agency's rule-making authority."Read more.
- Fish and Game Agencies Group Seek Deadline Extension . . .The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) is asking ATF to extend for another 90 days the deadline for comment on its controversial proposal to end the sporting purposes exemption for the "Green Tip" round. The letter explains: "…the ATF Framework limits hunters' and shooters' alternative ammunition choices. Not only does this run the risk of decreasing interest and participation in these sports as ammunition choices become more limited and more expensive, but as participation potentially decreases, so do sales of taxable goods and hunting licenses, potentially decreasing funding available for AFWA's members to conserve fish and wildlife."Read the AFWA letter. Earlier, NSSF also called for an extension of the comment deadline. Read the NSSF letter.
- Your Email Effort Needs to Continue . . . Industry employees, target shooters and gun owners should contact their Member of Congress and the ATF to oppose this unnecessary ban, which is truly a solution in search of a problem and raises serious questions about executive agency attitude and overreach. Stopped in their attempts to pass more gun control laws on Capitol Hill, this action appears to be the Obama administration's attempt to pursue gun control by other means. See the NSSF Action Alert and email ATF today. You should also email or Tweet your Member of Congress.
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