Debating ammo restrictions

In a recent column, I wrote about the Obama Administration’s attempt to create defacto gun regulation by banning certain ammunition sales. In the month since the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) announced a proposed ban on the manufacture and sale of a commonly available type of ammunition called “M855” in the 5.56 mm military caliber, well over 80,000 comments, the vast majority of which were critical of the proposed ban, have been received by BATFE.

Add to that public backlash significant negative pressure from Congress (53 senators and 236 congressmen signed on) in the form of letters from the two bodies opposing the ban on the grounds it was a threat to and infringement of the Second Amendment. The BATFE announced earlier this week they were backing off the proposed ban “for now” and wished to study the issue further.

The battle may be over but the war is far from won!

How did this whole situation develop anyway? The Obama Administration put on a full-court press for gun control legislation immediately after the Connecticut school shooting a few years ago. A lot of the legislative thrust was specifically against the AR-15 style, semi-automatic rifle, chambered in the 5.56 millimeter caliber. Variants of this rifle style have become the most popular civilian rifles for hunting, target shooting, and home defense over the last couple of decades. The rifle is now commonly referred to in the gun literature as a MSR or modern sporting rifle.

The legislation failed miserable in Congress at the time and, with the Republican takeover of Congress during the last election, chances of resurrecting similar legislation are likely doomed to failure. So, how does one achieve gun control without legislation? Through the bureaucratic process! A rifle without ammo is a poor club but a great door stop!

An interesting irony emerged in the reasoning the BATFE used to justify the ban. Let me explain. Almost any rifle caliber can easily penetrate the type of body armor police wear. Most handgun ammo will not. Criminals rarely use rifles, preferring to use concealable handguns in committing their crimes. The M855 ammo was exempted from any control regulations because it could only be fired in a rifle — no handguns chambered that caliber at the time. A few “handguns” have been developed and marketed in the past few years that do chamber that caliber.

BATFE said they were reversing their stand about allowing the sale of the ammo to create a safer environment for police. Here’s the irony — in response, most of the major police organizations have gone on record saying the ban was “unnecessary.” These “handguns” chambering 5.56 millimeter ammo cost the better part of $1000 and are not all that common. Most criminals prefer either cheap or stolen guns when committing crimes, so the danger to police from the use of this ammo in a handgun is minuscule at best.

I mentioned the possibility of “panic buying” occurring when the proposed ban was announced. I was in a local box store with a sporting goods department a few days after the ban announcement became public and inquired if they had any of that particular type of ammo. This store had already sold out their stock. The clerk said if I went to one of their other stores immediately, I might be able to buy some. The other store only had a pallet’s worth, but the case-lot ammo was selling fast.

The upshot of this whole business has much greater implications that just one type of ammunition in one specific caliber going away. If the BATFE line of reasoning does eventually become policy, then virtually any centerfire caliber ammunition could be banned because somebody somewhere will develop a “handgun” capable of firing the round.

Here’s a calendar item to mark. The 10th Annual Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show will be held from March 27-29 at the Curtis D. Menard Sports Complex in Wasilla. This is the first outdoor show of the season and will have lots of venders, displays, good seminars, best pricing of the season deals, and valuable door prizes every day of the show. I plan to attend as much as I can!

Oh, I did get the specific press I wanted for reloading brass blackpowder shotgun shells. It is the only press I have which will work with the 12-gauge dies for the brass shells. I got the press mounted on my reloading bench but haven’t used it yet.