BATFE withdraws proposal to ban common AR-15 ammo after record response from opponents

The joke goes that anything named “Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms” ought to be a convenience store instead of an arm of the federal government, but several years in the wake of the Operation Fast & Furious gun-walking scandal, the things President Obama is still trying to pull through the BATFE are anything but a joking matter.

That's because the most anti-gun rights president in American history is clearly using the BATFE to follow through on his threat to use executive action to enforce gun control on the American people, despite their having voiced their opposition through the election of a strongly pro-gun rights legislators to Capitol Hill.

Last year, Obama's BATFE banned the importation of 5.45 x 39 ammunition, as well as certain popular Russion firearms.

In January, the BATFE significantly expanded the scope of activities that BATFE considers to be “manufacturing” for purposes of the Gun Control Act (GCA), severely complicating the making of firearms for private use, and also reversed its position on the use of pistol stabilizing braces like the Sig Sauer SB15.

In February, the BATFE announced that it intended to ban commonplace M855 ball ammunition as “armor piercing ammunition." Despite announcing that it would accept comments on the proposal until March 16, it was soon discovered that the department's latest "Firearms Regulation Reference Guide," released in January 2015, had already put the ban in writing - one month before it was proposed and two months before comments on the proposal were due to be considered. (When questioned, the BATFE explained that this was simply an "error.")

After receiving more than 80,000 letters of opposition, and after a majority in both the Senate and House — 52 senators (including Ohio's Rob Portman (R)), 238 House members (including Ohio Reps. Steve Chabot, Brad Wenstrup, Jim Jordan, Bob Latta, Bill Johnson, Bob Gibbs, Mike Turner, Pat Tiberi, Dave Joyce, Steve Stivers and Jim Renacci) - joined to oppose the Obama administration's move, the BATFE has backed down.

On Tuesday, March 10, the BATFE released a "Notice to Those Commenting on the Armor Piercing Ammunition Exemption Framework":

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 deserve further study. Accordingly, ATF will not at this time seek to issue a final framework. After the close of the comment period, ATF will process the comments received, further evaluate the issues raised therein, and provide additional open and transparent process (for example, through additional proposals and opportunities for comment) before proceeding with any framework.

In its coverage of the reversal, the Columbus Dispatch exposes Obama's claims that the ban was intended to protect law enforcement for the lie that it was:

Gun rights advocates saw the ban of the ammunition, popular with the target shooting and hunting crowd, as an attack on people’s Second Amendment rights, rather than a way to make police officers safe, said Sean Maloney with the Buckeye Firearms Association.

“When America realized what the ATF was doing was trying to apply certain parts of the statute that couldn’t even really commit that the ammunition be classified as armor piercing, they really didn’t have anywhere to go,” Maloney said.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the Washington office of the Fraternal Order of Police, said while the FOP is concerned about ammunition getting into the wrong hands, M855 ammunition hasn’t posed a threat to police officers before.

“We don’t have any historical evidence that the ammunition has ever been used against police,” he said. “We do appreciate (the ATF’s) concern, the seriousness with which they address the issue; we just disagree on the threat level on this particular round.”

In response to the announcement, a National Rifle Association press release stated as follows:

"Today’s announcement proves what we have said all along -- this was 100% political. President Obama failed to pass gun control through Congress, so he tried impose his political agenda through executive fiat. But every gun owner in America needs to understand Barack Obama’s hatred of the Second Amendment has not changed," said Wayne La Pierre, Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association.

Chris Cox, Executive Director of NRA-ILA criticized the dishonest campaign to ban this common ammunition: “The lies used to justify the ban were shameful. This proposal was never about law enforcement safety – it was about the Obama Administration’s desire to pander to billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his gun control groups. Since they haven’t been able to ban America’s most popular rifle, they are trying to ban the ammunition instead.”

...

“Make no mistake, this fight is not over. We will remain vigilant and continue to fight against President Obama’s attempt to dismantle the Second Amendment,” concluded LaPierre.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.

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