The BATF has posted a document on their website that tried to justify the banning of 5.56 NATO ammunition. The TL;DR version of how they are trying to justify the ban is in the 1968 Gun Control Act, Congress decided to try to define “armor piercing” ammunition in which they only name handgun “projectiles”. However they are not trying to justify the ban on 5.56 or as they would love to call it “assault rifle ammo” because of the increase in popularity of the AR Pistol platform.
If this is not a stretch to try to ban something then I do not know what is. What are your thoughts? Read the meat and potatoes of what the ATF is trying to say below.
[expand title=”1968 Gun Control Act Excerpt”]
ATF FRAMEWORK FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN PROJECTILES ARE “PRIMARILY INTENDED FOR SPORTING PURPOSES” WITHIN THE MEANING OF 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(C)
In the 1968 Gun Control Act, Congress decided to try and define “armor piercing” ammunition. They were basically scared poopless of the idea that someone could shoot a bullet that would penetrate their personal body armor, and wanted to protect themselves from the angry masses. And police too, I guess. The way they defined it, though, has been a massive pain in the ass. The following is that definition:
“(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.”
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