Popular target ammunition targeted

I figured it was only a matter of time. With the Republican majority control in both houses of Congress, gun control proponents could see their chances of gaining new federal gun control legislation slipping away. However, they’re not giving up — they just turned to a different branch of government. If you can’t get the guns legislatively, why not go after the ammunition bureaucratically? A firearm without cartridges is just an unwieldy club.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found in the Executive Branch of our federal government has very recently announced that they are banning the .223 caliber ammunition commonly referred to by its military designation as M855 ball ammunition. This is probably the most common type of ammunition found in the .223 caliber available today and is used by millions of shooters for recreational target shooting and plinking.

The BATFE has decided to classify the M855 ammo as “armor piercing ammunition.” The manufacture, importation, or sale of armor-piercing ammo in this country has been illegal since 1986. The M855 ammo has been around for about 50 years or as long as the AR-15 style firearm has been available to the public. Why was M855 ammo legal and not classified as armor piercing yesterday, but today it can “magically” pierce body armor and has become illegal?

I’ll take a stab at answering that in a minute.

The AR-15 or MSR (modern sporting rifle, as it is commonly referred to), has become the single most popular rifle being purchased in America. This popularity stems from its military history of use, the wide array of aftermarket parts, and the fact that virtually all of America’s military, both current and going back 50 years, were trained in the operation and maintenance of this type of firearm.

This civilian popularity of either the rifle type or caliber, or both, commonly used in the military has happened for well over a hundred years in this country. The 45-70 cartridge first found its place in the military back in about 1870 and it’s still commonly available. The switch from lever-action rifles to bolt-action firearms happened after World War I, along with the rise in popularity of the 30-06 rifle cartridge. The switch to a semi-automatic battle rifle around World War II ushered in the current civilian interest in semi-automatic firearms, which continues to this day.

Now let’s be perfectly clear here — the military version of the AR-15 is capable of fully automatic fire or three-shot bursts, depending on the model, with each pull of the trigger. This is a machine gun. The civilian versions available to the public are only capable of firing one shot with each pull of the trigger, just like any other semi-automatic firearm currently on the market. These are not the same guns functionally. However, they do look similar, at least from a distance.

Okay, enough history.

Why is the federal government suddenly deciding to go after the civilian version of the current military caliber cartridge? The MSR firearms are selling like hotcakes and have been ever since our current president was elected six years ago. The demand for this style rifle is almost unprecedented. With the apparent loss of ability to enact legislation to slow or stem this flow of legal firearms into the civilian populace, the Executive Branch, using Presidential Executive Orders, has decided to stem the flow of ammunition. If no ammo is readily available, the thought is that folks will quit buying the guns.

Those folks looking for gun control at any cost don’t seem to follow history — or at least understand it. President Obama, with his stated objective of significantly reducing or, ideally, totally eliminating private firearms ownership in this country, has actually become the greatest gun salesman this nation has ever seen. Gun sales have been through the roof ever since President Obama first got elected and have not slowed over the six years he’s been in office. Part of the reason for the ammunition shortages of the past few years has resulted from folks stocking up and even hoarding ammo in fear of the federal government doing something like they are currently imposing for the .223 cartridge.

Frankly, I’d be surprised if another “run” on .223 caliber cartridges doesn’t occur. A little basic understanding of human nature enters here. The best way to assure that a person does something you don’t want him to do is to tell him he can’t do it.

Remember kindergarten?