Senate Republicans have blasted a plan by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban armor-piercing bullets used in a popular assault rifle, claiming it infringes on Second Amendment rights.
The 53 senators fired off an angry letter to ATF Director Todd Jones demanding that the agency abandon the proposal to make it illegal to buy and sell the .223 M855 "green-tip" ammo commonly used in the AR-15, a civilian version of the military's M16 rifle,
according to The Hill.
"Second Amendment rights require not only access to firearms, but to bullets," said the letter sent out on Monday.
"If law-abiding gun owners cannot obtain rifle ammunition, or face substantial difficulty in finding ammunition available and at reasonable prices because government entities are banning such ammunition, then the Second Amendment is at risk."
The White House says the ban would help save the lives of police officers who would not be protected from the powerful bullets if they were to be used in a rifle or, potentially, a handgun.
The ATF has pointed out that there are 168 other types of bullet that can be used in the AR-15 rifle, according to The Hill.
Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, who is facing a tough re-election fight in liberal-leaning Illinois, was the only GOP senator who did not sign the letter.
Last week, more than 100 GOP lawmakers in Congress signed a similar letter to the ATF, asking for the bullet plan to be shelved, even though the agency is first seeking public comment on the proposal and it may never become law.
"[The ban] will interfere with Second Amendment rights by disrupting the market for ammunition that law-abiding Americans use for sporting and other legitimate purposes," the House letter says.
Republican Rep. Tom Rooney of Florida went even further by introducing the Protecting Second Amendment Rights Act, which would reduce the ATF’s power to control ammunition sales, The Hill reported.
And
Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a senior Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, is even introducing legislation to abolish the ATF, which is still reeling from the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation.
In a separate column for The Hill, Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich, the news editor of Townhall.com, strongly condemned the proposed ban.
"There are two very important things to consider about this proposal," she wrote. "The first and most important aspect is how the government defines 'armor piercing.'
"Any type of centerfire rifle ammunition — and there are hundreds, including the AR-15 green tip — can penetrate a law enforcement vest. If the ATF can ban this type of ammunition under the argument that it is 'armor piercing,' it can ban all centerfire ammunition.
"Second, the Obama administration has argued this ban is necessary to protect law enforcement, when there is zero evidence to show green-tip ammunition poses a special threat to law enforcement."
She summed up by saying, "This proposal isn’t about armor-piercing ammunition or protecting police officers. It’s about banning ammunition widely used in America’s most popular, and Obama’s most hated, rifle: the AR-15. This ban must be stopped, and Congress has an obligation to act immediately."
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