The Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 made dealers identify people buying ammo and keep records of it. It also included a ban on interstate mail-order sales.
The law was passed in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy. Still, it had many loopholes, and many of the regulations were changed or removed entirely upon the passage of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of 1986, including every one surrounding ammo sales. That law was passed to combat what gun advocates described as unnecessary federal restrictions on law-abiding citizens.
No federal regulations on ammo have been passed since, nor have many firearm regulations, save the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022. That law attempts to crack down on gun trafficking, straw purchasing and guns in the hands of domestic abusers.
Lawmakers in Congress have tried and failed to bring those 1968 ammo regulations back. Republican majorities block any proposed bills from making it to the floor.
Lawmakers also proposed other ideas like requiring dealers to flag bulk ammo purchases to the ATF, heavily taxing ammo (the current federal cap is 11%), requiring ammo dealers to be federally licensed like firearms dealers, or banning high capacity magazines – a ban President Joe Biden and Democrats have been demanding for years.
Advocates with the National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation cite several arguments against ammo regulation:
Too much paperwork; criminals will find ammo anyway; law-abiding citizens don’t deserve extra hoops to jump through; competitive shooters who go through a thousand rounds of ammo or more a day are targeted; buying ammo in bulk saves them money; shooters will become worse shots if they can’t practice with as much ammo, and more.
Yet, in many mass shooting cases, the shooters aren’t good shots (like the bank shooter, who police say “did not have a firm understanding” of how to operate the weapon). But the wealth of ammo allows them to fire and fire until they do hit people.
A New York Times investigation found ammo from one plant specifically has been used in at least 12 high-profile mass shootings, including Uvalde, Parkland and Aurora: Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri. It’s been supplying the U.S. military since World War II, but it also sells ammo commercially.
Lawmakers and attorneys general have called for oversight of the plant. Democrats say excess military-grade ammo shouldn’t be sold to the public, but advocates argue it’s also used for self defense and shooting sports. LCAAP points to the fact that the Department of Defense permitted the commercial utilization of the plant so that, in the event of an emergency, LCAAP could give the commercial supply to the military.
It’s why scholars call ammo the “actual agent of harm” in gun violence. Criminals don’t have to be good shots, or worry about how much ammo they burn through. Without the ammo, the gun is just an empty vessel.
— Grayce McCormick in What About Bullet Control?
This again?
Anything to avoid looking at real root causes.
Like guns, bullets do not cause violence… ‘gun violence’ is a deliberately false term. Neither guns or bullets cause such violence and its impossible for them to do so being the non-living things they are… it’s ‘people violence’.
If a drunk driver runs over someone with a car do we call that ‘car violence’ and call for bans on cars or fuel?
“A New York Times investigation found ammo from one plant specifically has been used in at least 12 high-profile mass shootings”
Breaking news! NYT declares they didn’t actually find anything nefarious.
This is like saying “rain drops in storm found to be wet”
Did they look at the rounds the government used to murder Brian?
Did they look at the rounds Biden intentionally through his incompetence armed the enemy with in his incompetent withdrawal?
Brian who?
Should have been Bryan as Bryan Malinoski
Bryan Malinowski.
Wife was driving, she seems to hit every bump or pot hole she can find.
“But the wealth of ammo allows them to fire and fire until they do hit people.”
Until the active shooter, can’t any longer being stopped, in many cases (collectively) from continuing or from firing the first round, buy a law abiding citizen armed with ammo.
What about journalism control?
Propaganda is protected speech,truth is hate speech etc.
You should fear any government that works to take away your ability to protect yourself and your loved ones from violent criminals and especially defend yourself from said government.