I know I’m a bit late to this topic, but the truth is we’re only in sort of a truce, we haven’t one this one. A Hudna as the Muslim Terrorists would say.
A couple of weeks ago the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives proposed to ban so called “armor piercing” bullets used in AR15 5.56 rifles.
Their pretext of course was public safety, as it usually is. Now, I’m all in favor of keeping the public safe, but this isn’t it. The rounds in question are NATO specification “green tip” ammunition which was indeed designed to pierce armor. It wasn’t designed to pierce body armor as worn by police and others. You don’t need an armor piercing round to shoot through that type of armor, most rifle caliber rounds will do that. Including non armor piercing 5.56 rounds and theirs close cousin the .223 Remington. And 7.62 NATO rounds and their close cousins, the .308 round. Even my 30-30 deer round is likely to go through standard police body armor. It won’t go through the heavier stuff that the military uses, but then again if I see a deer wearing body armor it would probably be best if I walk away.
The BATFE goes on to explain that the proliferation of AR15 style pistols has them all nervous about the threat to police. An AR15 pistol isn’t exactly small. It’s also not exactly common either. Nor is it inexpensive. In other words, the use of AR15 pistols in the commission of crime isn’t likely to become a pressing problem.
So, why is the federal government trying to ban a specific type of ammunition? I think there are two dynamics at work here. First, it’s a trial balloon to get the proverbial camels nose into the proverbial tent. If this flies, then the BATFE can start to issue other regulations making various types of ammunitino off limits to civilians. I’d expect more rifle calibers and some types of handgun ammunition to be be banned. The ATF uses a “sporting purposes” standard when deciding on whether or not to approve certain firearms and ammunition. Which I think is wrong and should be corrected by Congress.
If you read the Second Amendment carefully, you’ll see that the term “sporting purposes” doesn’t appear in it. The purpose of the Second Amendment, as the Supreme Court said in Heller, is to allow the use of weapons in common use to be owned and used by people who are not otherwise prohibited from owning firearms.
Like a lot of people, I was disappointed that Heller didn’t go further in clarifying gun rights, but then again rarely does the Court go further than it absolutely has to in order to decide a case. It’s a slow march to protecting the Second Amendment and it will take years before the battle is won.
Speaking of the Second Amendment and battles, here is the other dynamic at work in this particular battle. There are some people on the left who are floating the idea that while the Second Amendment may protect the right to bear arms, it doesn’t protect the right to own ammunition. That’s some mighty fine hair splitting right there folks. I’m sure it was thought up by a lawyer or ten and they are very impressed with how clever they are.
The only problem is that they are wrong. In Heller, the Court made it clear that a Washington D.C. ordinance that proscribed keeping functional weapons in ones house for self protection was unconstitutional and could not stand. The essence of the Second Amendment is self protection, whether from criminals, animals, or even a government gone rogue. Ammunition is an integral part of a firearm, without it a firearm is nothing more than a club or hammer. The penumbra of the Second Amendment therefore extends to ammunition. It would also extend to magazines, although so far ridiculous restrictions on magazine capacity have withstood legal challenges.
As I said at the start of this post, gun owners have fought the ATF to standstill on this issue, but it’s only temporary. Already some stooge US Senator has introduced a bill to ban the evil green tip ammunition. Given that both houses of Congress are controlled by the Republican Party, I don’t see that particular bill going anywhere but to a well deserved death in an obscure committee. That’s if it’s even assigned to a committee.
As Ambulance Driver says, “Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives make up a fun weekend, but it shouldn’t be a federal agency.”
The beat and the battle go on.