Obama’s AR-15 Ammo Ban

by Dave Blount | February 27, 2015 10:39 am

As warned earlier, the Obama Regime has unilaterally banned common ammo for AR-15s.

Authoritarians in the government and media would have liked to impose a straightforward ban on these extremely popular general purpose sporting rifles, and they did their best by exploiting the Sandy Hook shootings to the last extreme of shamelessness. Characteristically, when the lawful approach didn’t work, Obama shoved the legislative branch aside and ruled by decree:

Obama is using executive actions to impose gun control on the nation, targeting the top-selling rifle in the country, the AR-15 style semi-automatic, with a ban on one of the most-used AR bullets by sportsmen and target shooters.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this month revealed that it is proposing to put the ban on 5.56 mm ammo on a fast track, immediately driving up the price of the bullets…

At the risk of getting into the high weeds favored by bureauweenies, here is the Regime’s justification:

At issue is so-called “armor-piercing” ammunition, an exemption for those bullets mostly used for sport by AR-15 owners, and the recent popularity of pistol-style ARs that use the ammo.

The inexpensive 5.56 M855 ammo, commonly called lightgreen tips, have been exempt for years, as have higher-caliber ammunition that also easily pierces the type of soft armor worn by police, because it’s mostly used by target shooters, not criminals. The agency proposes to reclassify it as armor-piercing and not exempt.

But now BATFE says that since the bullets can be used in semi-automatic handguns they pose a threat to police and must be banned from production, sale and use.

Even by the standard of authoritarian pretexts, this is as thin as wet toilet paper.

Even some police don’t buy the administration’s claim. “Criminals aren’t going to go out and buy a $1,000 AR pistol,” Brent Ball, owner of 417 Guns in Springfield, Mo., and a 17-year veteran police officer told the Springfield News-Leader. “As a police officer I’m not worried about AR pistols because you can see them. It’s the small gun in a guy’s hand you can’t see that kills you.”

Bottom line:

Many see the bullet ban as an assault on the AR-15 and Obama’s back-door bid to end production and sale.

When the 5.56mm ban fails to put an end to the iconic (and distinctively American) AR-15’s popularity, the regime will ban other calibers. As with Britain’s incremental ban on handguns, we will soon be left with nothing but .22; then they will take that away.

Unless of course we can stop them. A starting point would be to loudly remind our rulers of this:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

A government that does not honor the Constitution has no legitimate authority.

On tips from Artfldgr, Sean C, and Petterssonp. Graphic compliments of Stormfax. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.