A proposed federal ban on the manufacture and sale of popular ammunition for AR-15 semiautomatic rifles has prompted concerned gun owners to stock up on the coveted bullets.
Last month, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that it was seeking to ban the armor-piercing 5.56-millimeter bullet commonly used in AR-15 semiautomatic rifles.
The agency said the proposed ban was “to protect the lives and safety of law enforcement officers from the threat posed by ammunition capable of penetrating a protective vest.”
The planned ammo ban comes after an eyebrow-raising move by some government agencies, such as the Dept. of Homeland Security, that bought up millions of rounds of ammo — such as the 5.56 mm rounds — last year. Despite many reports of the government ammo purchases, a reason was never given.
Once gun-rights advocates got word of the move, they rushed to buy cases of the bullets, according to CBS affiliate KOLN in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“It doesn’t really matter what it is right now, if it’s 5.56 mm, it’s selling quickly,” Liberty Arms Manager Colton May told the station. “What that’s done though, is created a scare to where anything that’s 5.56 mm is flying off the shelves. Friday alone we probably sold 6,000 to 7,000 rounds of 2.23 mm or 5.56 mm.”
Gun shop owners in Eastern NC say the ammo and the AR-15 are bought by law abiding citizens.
At Colt’s Guns and Pawn Shop near Greenville NC, they say they can sell hundreds of AR-15s in a given month, and more than a thousand in a year.
“People that go into the military, they’re issued this type of rifle,” explained Glen Bowen, Pres., Colt’s Guns & Pawn. “They are taught how to take it apart. What it will do and everything, and they’re mostly the ones that buy the gun.”
Nearly 200 members of Congress have asked the ATF to reconsider.
Republican congressman Doug Collins of Georgia is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
“This is something that’s been around for 30 years,” said Doug Collins, R-FL. “Why the perversion now? We think it’s just a last ditch attempt by this administration to take a swipe at the second amendment.”
Now, Colton May, the Nebraska gun store owner, has said that prices of the ammunition are also peaking online.
“Ten to 11 bucks, you know, for a box of 20,” May said. “Now I’ve seen it priced for 20 bucks, even higher and that’s just a small batch of ammunition.”
The New York Times reports that the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups accused President Obama of trying to enact backdoor gun control laws after failed attempts to get such legislation passed in Congress following the December 2012 Newtown, Conn. shooting rampage.
“This latest action, while alarming, isn’t surprising, as it is his latest action in a lifetime devoted to the dismantling of the Second Amendment,” the NRA’s Chris W. Cox told the Times.
