Posted on 03/12/2015 11:39:08 AM PDT by Red Steel
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Thursday raised new concerns about surplus military ammo used in popular AR-15 rifles and pistols just days after pulling back on a proposal to ban the ammo because it could threaten police safety.
In a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, ATF Director B. Todd Jones said all types of the 5.56 military-style ammo used by shooters pose a threat to police as more people buy the AR-15-style pistols.
"Any 5.56 round" is "a challenge for officer safety," he said. Jones asked lawmakers to help in a review of a 1986 bill written to protect police from so-called "cop killer" rounds that largely exempted rifle ammo like the 5.56 because it has been used by target shooters, not criminals.
His agency's move to ban the 5.56 M855 version was condemned by the National Rifle Association and majorities in the House and Senate and as a result was pulled back though not abandoned. At the hearing Jones said that nearly 90,000 comments on the proposal were received, many negative.
As a result, he said that the ATF will suspend rewriting the "framework" used to exempt armor piercing ammo from sale or use. "It probably isn't going to happen any time soon," he said. Jones also said, "We are not going to move forward."
The 5.56 M855 round, he said, is military surplus, typically has a green tip and was used in the M-16. There are several versions of the 5.56. The M855carries a bullet that can penetrate police body armor, though shooters often debate that.
The ATF singled it out for a ban because more AR-15 style pistols that can shoot the ammo are being produced and presumably could be used by criminals in police shootouts. The AR-15 can also shoot the less lethal .223 round, which was not targeted by ATF in the ban proposal.
Police groups, however, said the pistols are not being used against cops.
The NRA and some 52 senators said they also feared that the ATF move was an Obama administration bid for gun control targeted at the AR-15.
Its not a framework, its a law and he should probably read it.
.22s and shotguns are next.
The ban on M855 would have been a re-interpretation of an existing law that would have been enforced like a new law.
The case for it being unconstitutional at it’s roots is the case though; The Second Amendment is about the people’s right to be able to kill tyrants, not for ‘sporting purposes’, so any assumption for it being for ‘sporting purposes’ is false on it’s face.
That includes “The people”’s ability to kill the tyrant’s soldiers if need be, and the founding fathers didn’t assume that the tyrants or his tools should have any sort of advantage over ‘the people’...
Well, OK, who under the age of five who lives in an underwater cave could have seen it coming?
Time to stock up even more on all the .308 ammo I can afford. I mean it WOULD be time to stock up if I hadn’t lost my rifle in that tragic boating accident.
Exactly, what pistol is it that shoots the 5.56 round..???
I am glad to see journalist have their thumb on the pulse of the issue.
Wrong argument. We shouldn't even be engaging in these kinds of what if's. All this crap by the ATF is an infringement upon the 2nd, period. Any other discussion is pointless and merely puts off the inevitable.
Yep, too big for gang bang concealment and really it’s a rifle without the stock.
STFU ATF
And that is why many in the firearms industry didn’t want that firearm made.
It fires a “rifle” round (my .454 has more power at close range), and if you put a stock on it would be a short barreled rifle.
Once that games starts, you are in trouble.
The difference between the two is that a 5.56 mm case can handle higher pressures. This equates to being able to have cartridges that propel some projectiles at marginally higher velocities. You can achieve higher speeds in .223 by lowering the weight of the projectile. I write marginally above because there is a limit to speed. Both .223 and 5.56 cases have a finite amount of room for powder - no more powder = no more speed. Additionally, there comes a point when velocity becomes too great and the projectile will break apart in mid-flight. With that said, the civilian, commonly used for hunting, .308 can handle higher pressures than the military version, 7.62mm. .308 are not necessarily interchangeable with 7.62mm in all AR-10s. Any AR-15 that fires 5.56mm can fire .223.
All of these rounds are lethal. Don't expect any logic or reasonable thinking from progressives.
They call it a “pistol” but it’s really just a short barrel AR-15, usually 10.5” minimum.
What guns don’t threaten police safety? That’s kind of the point.
Its about the slippery slope. Incremental change.
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>> “What guns don’t threaten police safety?” <<
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All of the guns in the possession of people that are not criminals.
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