In the wake of the announcement this week that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will delay a ruling over M855 green tip ammo, some are questioning ammunition bans both in the recent past and near future.
Legislation to combat future ammunition bans in whole or in part is being advanced on both the state and federal level while a grassroots movement is rallying to urge last year’s ban on the importation of 7N6 5.45x39mm ammunition be reversed.
In the U.S. House, Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, recently introduced a measure, H.R. 1180, that would prohibit the federal government from issuing or enforcing a new restriction or ban on the manufacture, importation, or sale of ammunition.
“The Obama Administration’s proposal would unilaterally strip law-abiding hunters and sportsmen of their Second Amendment rights,” Rooney said in a statement, referring to the M855 ammuniton. “Congress has made its intentions clear that this ammunition is for sporting purposes and should not be restricted. We cannot and we will not stand by while the Obama Administration tramples on the Constitution, the rule of law, and the Second Amendment rights of hunters in my district and across the country.”
Ronney’s proposal already has 40 Republican cosponsors and is assigned to the House Judiciary committee for review.
Besides the federal measure, at least one state is taking on the issue and has moved further along with it.
In the Republican-dominated Mississippi legislature, on March 10 the state Senate voted by a whopping 115 to 1 margin to adopt legislation that will, among other things, delete references in current state law referring to ammunition classified as being “armor piercing.” Many in the state see this as pertaining directly to the M855 imbroglio.
Besides the legislative action, individuals have advanced a We the People petition calling for the repeal on the ban on importation of 7N6 ammunition.
Last April, the ATF announced that it had determined the popular and inexpensive Russian surplus ammo to be “armor piercing” and, citing much the same language used in the recently proposed M855 framework, ordered its termination of importation.
Created by an individual in Lithia, Florida on Tuesday, the petition calling to open the ports to 7N6 once again has garnered over 3,000 signatures in a 24 hour period.
Firearms industry groups who have been working on the 7N6 determination as well as the M855 proposal, explained to Guns.com that it is a work in progress.
“While ATF has withdrawn, for now at least, its ill-considered ‘framework’ proposal, we remain concerned with ATF’s misinterpretation of the applicable law,” said Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation Thursday. “We look forward to working with both ATF and the majority of the members of Congress that wrote ATF on this issue to resolve the issue so that our industry can provide law abiding Americans with alternative non-lead ammunition products.”
