Gun owners dodged a bullet — metaphorically, of course — when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that it intended to ban commonplace M855 ball ammunition as “armor-piercing ammunition” and then later withdrew the proposal.
When BATFE released its “Framework for Determining Whether Certain Projectiles are ‘Primarily Intended for Sporting Purposes’ Within the Meaning of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(c)” edict, that meant the M855 round’s exemption to the armor-piercing ammunition prohibition null and void, and even worse, make future exemptions nearly impossible.
By way of background, federal law in 1986 prohibited the manufacture, importation, and sale by licensed manufacturers or importers, but not possession, of “a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely . . . from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium.” Because there are handguns capable of firing M855, it “may be used in a handgun.” It does not, however, have a core made of the metals listed in the law; rather, it has a traditional lead core with a steel tip, and therefore should never have been considered “armor piercing.” Nonetheless, BATFE previously declared M855 to be “armor-piercing ammunition,” but granted it an exemption as a projectile “primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes.”
More ominously, BATFE then said it will henceforth grant the “sporting purposes” exception to only two categories of projectiles: .22 Caliber Projectiles and All Other Caliber Projectiles intended for use in a single-shot handgun. ATF also retained to itself the discretion to deny any application for a “sporting purposes” exemption if substantial evidence exists that the ammunition is not primarily intended for such purposes.
In my opinion, the agency backed off when two things happened. The first was a story by Katie Pavlich, news editor at Townhall.com. She revealed in a March 6 story that BATFE’s proposal to ban commonly used M855 “green tip” AR-15 ammunition under the guise of law-enforcement safety had apparently been in the works far longer. Evidence: The sporting-use exemption for the ammo was already removed in electronic copies of the 2014 ATF Regulation Guide, which was available in January 2015.
Pavlich reported that the 2014 ATF Regulation Guide clearly showed where “the exemption for the ammunition in question has already been stripped out of the 2005 regulation handbook moving forward and ‘green-tip’ has been reclassified as ‘armor piercing.'” She produced copies of the affected areas showing how M855 and SS 109, along with U.S. .30-06 M2AP black tips, were no longer given a sporting exemption.
Responding to the Pavlich story only a few hours later, ATF tweeted at 6:12 p.m. on March 6: “Nothing to analyze here folks, just a publishing mistake. No AP ammo exemptions revoked….” Included in the tweet was a link to a longer statement:
NOTICE OF PUBLISHING ERROR
On Feb. 13, 2015, ATF released for public comment a proposed framework to guide its determination on what ammunition is “primarily intended for sporting purposes” for purposes of granting exemptions to the Gun Control Act’s prohibition on armor piecing ammunition. The posted framework is only a proposal, posted for the purpose of receiving public comment, and no final determinations have been made.
Media reports have noted that the 2014 ATF Regulation Guide published online does not contain a listing of the exemptions for armor piercing ammunition, and conclude that the absence of this listing indicates these exemptions have been rescinded. This is not the case.
Please be advised that ATF has not rescinded any armor piercing ammunition exemption, and the fact they are not listed in the 2014 online edition of the regulations was an error which has no legal impact on the validity of the exemptions. The existing exemptions for armor piercing ammunition, which apply to 5.56 mm (.223) SS 109 and M855 projectiles (identified by a green coating on the projectile tip), and the U.S .30-06 M2AP projectile (identified by a black coating on the projectile tip), remain in effect.
The listing of Armor Piercing Ammunition exemptions can be found in the 2005 ATF Regulation Guide on page 166, which is posted here.
The 2014 Regulation Guide will be corrected in PDF format to include the listing of armor piercing ammunition exemptions and posted shortly. The e-book/iBook version of the Regulation Guide will be corrected in the near future.
ATF apologizes for any confusion caused by this publishing error.
Sorry, but that did not, and does not, ring true to me.
Simultaneously, gun owners mobilized and flooded the agency’s public-comment line with comments about the proposed M855 5.56 NATO ban. According to a story by Stephen Gutowski, staff writer for the Washington Free Beacon, the ATF received more than 310,000 comments from the public. “We’ve received more than 310,000 public comments,” said Ginger Colbrun, a spokesperson for the ATF was quoted in the story. “We [were] still receiving some letters which are postmarked prior to the end of the comment period, March 16th.”
In addition to encouraging their members to submit comments opposing the ban, several of the largest gun rights groups launched campaigns against the ban. The National Rifle Association organized a letter to the ATF opposing the ban signed by 53 senators and 236 congressmen. The Second Amendment Foundation launched a nationwide radio and television ad campaign against the ban in addition to threatening legal action.
Then, on March 10, ATF announced that it would not pursue the proposed ban on the M855 ammunition.
In sum, I’m happy that this regulatory overreach by BATFE was pushed back, but I don’t think this issue is going away. The reality is, most centerfire rifle ammunition will punch through soft body armor, almost irrespective of the bullet construction. If it self-delegated the authority to ban any round that would penetrate those materials — which seems to be where the agency wants to go — BATFE could outlaw just about all hunting rounds. In my opinion, Congress needs to strip the agency of any further ability to make mischief in this area.
