WASHINGTON (CBS DC) — A proposed federal ban on the manufacture and sale of popular ammunition for AR-15 semiautomatic rifles has prompted Sen. Rand Paul to urge supporters to fight back.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who is seeking the ban, said the proposal is an effort “to protect the lives and safety of law enforcement officers from the threat posed by ammunition capable of penetrating a protective vest,” as reported by CBS News. However, Paul believes it’s a “backdoor route to imposing President Obama’s gun control.”
“Recently, Obama’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF) announced they will ban .223 M855 ammunition. The BATF has a March 17th deadline to hear public comments on this outrageous assault on the Second Amendment. And I’m counting on your immediate action to help RANDPAC flood the agency with a message from America’s pro-gun majority,” Paul wrote in a letter posted to his website.
A BATF 1986 restriction originally exempt the bullets in question, citing they were intended for sporting purposes, but the bureau is now withdrawing the exemption as a number of newer handguns use the same bullet.
The Obama administration has supported the new proposal noting that the sale of these bullets could endanger police enforcement.
“This seems to be an area where everyone should agree: that if there are armor-piercing bullets available that can fit into easily concealed weapons, that it puts our law enforcement at considerably more risk,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said last week, as reported by CBS News. “So I’d put this in the category of common-sense steps that the government can take to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans while also making sure that our law enforcement officers who are walking the beat every day can do their jobs just a little bit more safely.”
The agency is not making any final decisions just yet, giving the public 30 days to offer feedback and making the adjustments under consideration. If the ban is put in place, those possessing the “green tip” bullets will not be punished, but the sale of the bullets will be discontinued.
Gun rights advocates have spoken out opposing the ban, hoping to stop it before it goes into effect.
“Mr. Obama’s latest missive has nothing to do with police or public safety. Rather, this is about a president who is desperate to enact his reckless gun control agenda before he leaves office,” Chris Cox, a top lobbyist with the National Rifle Association, wrote last week in a Washington Times op-ed.
Rand also mentions gun advocates’ 2013 block of Obama’s proposal to strengthen the background check system for gun buyers referring to the legislation as a “national gun registration scheme” and a “radical anti-gun agenda.”
