VA-ALERT: ACTION ITEM: Time to contact BATFE

[OakRidgeStars]

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join
----------------------------------------------------------------------
VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------


It's time to contact the BATFE on their plan to ban M855 (AKA "SS109" or "green tip") 5.56x45mm ammunition.

The excuse the BATFE is using to ban the ammo is that it is "armor piercing" based on what the bullet is made of (some steel and a lot of lead) and the fact that it can now be shot in a handgun that is not a single shot (the AR-15 handgun). They are claiming that this ban is needed to protect the police. A total fabrication - I've not heard of a single officer being harmed by M855.

One key point is that M855 doesn't meet the BATFE's own definition of "armor piercing" based on their own definition! The key component is lead, which isn't one of the ammunition components the BATFE lists for armor piercing ammunition. Basing the ban on the fact that someone is marketing a handgun that can shoot that round is ludicrous.

LET'S FLOOD BATFE WITH COMMENTS OPPOSING THE BAN!

One way to stop the ban from happening is if we can FLOOD the BATFE with comments opposing the ban. BATFE appears to be purposely trying to discourage such comments by not putting the proposed regulation on the web the way most regulations are set up. The proposed regulation's comment submission method is somewhat hidden.

We have to either email, snail mail, or call in our comments. You may use any of those methods, but not more than one method and the method chosen can only be used to send a single comment.

BATFE must receive our comments NO LATER THAN March 16th. The sooner, the better.

-

Here are the three ways to contact the BATFE with your opposition:

email: APAComments@atf.gov

Fax: (202) 648-9741

Mail:
Denise Brown
Mailstop 6N-602
Office of Regulatory Affairs
Enforcement Programs and Services
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
99 New York Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20226
ATTN: AP Ammo Comments

-

Suggested subject: I oppose reclassifying M855 ammunition as armor piercing!

Suggested comment:

I oppose reclassifying M855 ammunition as "armor piercing."

Because of the high lead-content of its bullet, M855 does not meet the BATFE's own definition of armor piercing ammunition.

M855 is accurate ammunition that has been used for sporting purposes for many years. Nothing, including new handguns that are capable of shooting M855 ammunition, changes that fact.

Finally, the recent rulings by the United States Supreme Court that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, by necessity also protects an individual's right to have ammunition designed for use with those arms.

##




***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]