NJ Assembly Committee Puts Hold on Ammo Ban Legislation
NRA – ILA:
Thanks to the overwhelming number of phone calls and e-mails from dedicated NRA members, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee decided to hold Assembly Bill 588 for further study.
While this fight is not over, this is a big win for gun owners in the Garden State. During Monday’s hearing, Assembly Bill 1013 passed in the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee with amendments that attempt to address gun owner concerns and has been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee where further amendments may occur.
Law-abiding gun owners can breathe a sigh of relief due to A588 being held for further study by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. Sponsored by Assemblyman L. Grace Spencer (D-29), A588 has been confused for police safety legislation aimed at armor-piercing ammunition (which is already prohibited under federal and state law). Read more
Who Guards the Guards: 200,000 Rounds of Ammunition Missing From Memphis PD
Either someone did a lot of shooting, or else someone has made off with a lot of ammo. We’re not talking about a few boxes either. According to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, “up to 200,000 rounds of ammunition are missing from the Memphis Police Department Training Academy’s Firearms Training Unit, and officials want to know what happened to the ammo.”
We would like an answer too, and would once again like to remind anyone who only thinks the police should have guns of what this could mean. Bad cops could be arms – and ammo – suppliers to the bad guys.
Firing Back: Did Otis Rolley Get Advice From Chris Rock?
Comedian Chris Rock once did a whole routine on how guns wouldn’t be a problem if ammunition cost more. While a funny routine, no one should be laughing as Otis Rolley, a Baltimore, Maryland mayoral candidate has proposed a $1 per cartridge tax!
Rolley suggests this effort would cut down on crime and random gunfire. Of course how he expects to enforce this law is not clear. If Rolley had watched any episodes of HBO’s The Wire, which is set in Baltimore, he would know that the fictional drug gangs drove vast distances to obtain supplies of drugs, and even drove miles outside the city to burn disposable mobile phones (burners as they were called). What would stop criminals from driving outside the city to stock up on ammunition?
We feel that Rolley would just use this as an excuse to push for even greater restrictions against firearms and ammunition. Let’s hope that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others from Mayors Against Illegal Guns don’t jump on this band wagon.
NSSF Responds to New York Times Editorial Promoting Banning Lead Ammunition
From the National Shooting Sports Foundation:
NSSF responds to today’s New York Times editorial attacking traditional ammunition. http://tiny.cc/nxs9x
The New York Times
Letters to the Editor
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018To the Editor:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) correctly rejected a petition by anti-hunting groups to ban the use of all traditional ammunition manufactured with lead components based on a statute passed by congress over 35 years ago (“Another Misguided Idea From the Gun Lobby,” May 17, 2011). As even one of the petitioners has acknowledged, the proposed ban would have applied to all ammunition, not just hunting ammunition, thereby affecting not only sportsmen, but the military, law enforcement and all responsible gun owners. Bipartisan legislation, sponsored by the co-chairs of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, which is the largest caucus in congress, seeks to further clarify the existing exemption of ammunition from EPA jurisdiction and to exempt sport-fishing tackle. Over 35 of the nation’s largest conservation groups support this commonsense legislation.
The science of wildlife management is based on managing populations, not on preventing isolated instances of harm to individual animals. If wildlife management were to be based on preventing harm to individual animals then presumably hunting would be banned. Hunting, however, is a critical management tool, and the excise taxes paid on the sale of the ammunition you demonize is the primary funding source for wildlife and habitat conservation in the United States. Absent sound scientific evidence of a population impact caused by the use of traditional ammunition, there is no justification for further restricting or banning its use.
The proper agencies to protect wildlife are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 50 state fish and game agencies. To illustrate this point, the Fish and Wildlife Service, not the E.P.A., barred the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting many years ago.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study does not, as you claim, show a health risk to hunters who consume game harvested with traditional ammunition. Quite the opposite is true, as demonstrated by the study showing that the average hunter had blood lead levels less than half that of the average American – including those walking the streets of Manhattan. There has never been a documented case of lead poisoning, let alone elevated lead levels, caused by consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition. Once again, the arguments posed in your editorial are agenda-based science and don’t hold up to factual scrutiny.
Alternative ammunition made with substantially more expensive metals comprises just 5 percent of the ammunition market in the United States. Banning traditional ammunition, based on emotion rather than science, will result in skyrocketing prices for ammunition.
Indeed, by needlessly banning traditional ammunition, price sensitive hunters and target shooters as well as fishermen will be priced out of their sport, and funding for wildlife and habitat conservation will dry up.
Sincerely,
Lawrence G. Keane
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
National Shooting Sports Foundation
About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 6,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.
NRA: Another Anti-Gun Bill Introduced in New Jersey
Assembly Bill 3807, sponsored by Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald (D-6) and Assemblyman Annette Quijano (D-20), has been introduced in the New Jersey Assembly.
If passed, A3807 would reduce the maximum capacity of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds from 15.
This legislation is an example of yet another attempt to restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens, while doing nothing to actually combat crime.
As of now, the language for the bill has not been released and a hearing has not been scheduled, but the NRA will continue to update you on the status of the legislation as it progresses through the New Jersey General Assembly.
So, please continue to check AmmoLand Shooting Sports News and www.NRAILA.org for updates.
About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org
Gun Business: Olin’s Winchester Brand Helps Company Reload
Olin Corporation (NYSE: OLN) which operates two segments of business, chemicals and ammunition has relied on its Winchester brand ammunition to help the company weather a downturn in the economy. The company’s chemical business is powered by its Chlor Alkali products which include chlorine, caustic soda, sodium hydrosulfite, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products and potassium hydroxide. While both of its business segments are cyclical in nature the chemical business has been extremely difficult since 2008. For its Chlor Alkali business segment Olin’s 2nd quarter 2010 income before taxes was down 45% compared to a year earlier. 2nd quarter 2010 income was $26.1 million versus $47.6 million. Read more
San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Defends Gun Shop
In a column for The San Francisco Chronicle, Phil Bronstein compares Bosnia to the Golden Gate town, and notes that the San Francisco’s anti-gun zealots are fighting mad about the reopening of the High Bridge Arms gun shop on Mission Street.
He asks:
“Do we really need to make a high-caliber stink about reopening the only legal firearms sales outlet in the city, even in a nice neighborhood? No. The place has been a gun store for 50 years.” Read more
Ammoland Notes Another Challenge to California Ban on Ammo Shipments
It seems that if you can’t get guns out of people’s hands for some the next best thing to do is control the ammo they use. Our friends at Ammoland.com are reporting that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined with the Calguns Foundation, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Folsom Shooting Club and two individual truckers to challenge California’s upcoming ban on shipments of handgun ammunition to the state. Have you heard about any of this in the mainstream media? Probably not.
But as Ammoland.com notes:
“Assembly Bill 962 was signed into law last year. Starting in February 2011, the law will criminalize the delivery and transfer of handgun ammunition not done in face-to-face transactions. The law provides only a few exceptions to this shipping ban, and requires shipping companies to bear the burden of determining whether the recipient of a package containing handgun ammunition is covered by one of the exceptions before delivering the package. This will make shipping ammunition to California much more difficult, complicated, and expensive.”
We’ll be watching to see how this pans out, and whether the MSM bothers to report on it.
Ammo Story Goes International Via WaPo
Apparently there has been so much hype about an increase in the sale of ammunition in the United States that the story continues to go international, and alas with the same liberal bias. This week The Canadian Free Press ran a story with this passage:
“In a year of job losses, foreclosures and bag lunches, Americans have spent record-breaking amounts of money on guns and ammunition. The most obvious sign of their demand: empty ammunition shelves. At points during the past year, bullets have been selling faster than factories could make them.”
First, we’d like ask our colleagues north of the border for a source on the point that bullets are actually being sold “faster than factories could make them.” Yes, ammo is selling, but so far even the American press hasn’t stated that dubious claim. Or has it?
A closer look at the story reveals that this wasn’t actually original copy – as in an original article from Canada, but is in fact just a passage quoted from The Washington Post. This story of course offers the usual suggestions that it is fear of Obama taking away guns that are driving the sales.
Additionally, what the Canadian abridged version fails to point out is at least in the WaPo version, which stresses that America is involved in two wars right now. Factor in the additional training, and maybe the ammo shortage isn’t just people hording. While WaPo offers this suggestion, via the argument from ammo makers, the rest of the mainstream media – including that in Canada now – just blames gun owners of course.
Firing Back: California Off the Mark in Ammo Limit
This week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law that would limit the amount of ammunition sold. When – or rather if – this law goes into effect in 2011 (we expect lawsuits any second now), it would mean that handgun owners would be unable to buy more than 50 rounds per month, while gun shops would have to record identifying information about the buyer. While this is aimed at reducing crime, it is another step that won’t have the intended effect. Instead, it will make it harder for target shooter to go target shooting, while criminals will simply find gray markets or buy from illegal sources.
In the meantime, 2011 is a long time away. We expect just about every gun owner in the state to stock up. So that rush for ammo might just further heat up. Of course we’re also expecting praises from the mainstream media over the next 15 months. Let’s just not hold our breath thinking that gun related crime will disappear at the stroke of midnight.
Prohibition didn’t reduce drinking in the 1920s and it just created new black markets, while normally honest people broke the law casually. Why would anything think that the same wouldn’t happen with bullets as well. But maybe that is the intention; if people break the law they can’t legally own guns. And that sadly might be the ultimate gun control plan.
