I also posted this under shooting the bull.

As some of you maybe aware, BATFE is proposing to remove the LEOPA exemption from SS109/M855 ammunition. They are providing for public comment until 16 Mar 2015. This ammo has been exempt since 1986 and does not make any sense to remove the exemption unless this is just another back door attempt to make our rights more difficult to exercise. The BATFE always considered this AP ammo though it runs contrary to the law, specifically, the definition of “armor piercing ammunition”.

18 U.S.C. 921(a) (17) (B):
“(B) The term “armor piercing ammunition” means—
(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and
which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other
substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron,
brass, bronze, beryllium copper or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended
for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25
percent of the total weight of the projectile.”

The SS109/M855 does not meet either of the above definitions. Though I am no lawyer, I don’t see how this proposed ban could survive a court challenge, even under the vague “sporting use” clause.

The SS109/M855 has always been cheap ammo for us shooters and we need work to keep it that way. Though we are our own worst enemy (take a look at the ammo for sale section if in doubt), let us work together, and get on the horn with BATF and our Congress POCs. With the Repub in control of both houses, we have a good chance of having this ammo permanently exempt from the AP (this ammo is not their only target) BATF B.S. WE need to be loud, clear, and TOGETHER and we may just get this exempted for good. Stay focused and lets move!

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150213/batfe-to-ban-common-ar-15-ammo

Here's the information on how/where to submit comments to the BATFE on this.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
ATF will carefully consider all comments, as appropriate, received on or before March 16,
2015, and will give comments received after that date the same consideration if it is practical to
do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given except as to comments received on or
before March 16, 2015. ATF will not acknowledge receipt of comments.
Submit comments in any of three ways (but do not submit the same comments multiple
times or by more than one method):

ATF 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

As for your Congress POC, contact them directly. If you don’t know who yours is, use https://www.opencongress.org/people/zipcodelookup/ and type in your zip.

Get on the horn folks! Don't fall for "this does not affect me" trap. This ban will NOT stop at the M855.

Here is a example letter from another site:

Dear Congressman/woman ZAYB,

I ask that you stop the BATFE from banning the sale of M855/SS109 ball ammunition to the public.

Our military classifies M855 as ball ammunition and M995 as armor piercing, but BATFE classifies M855 ball ammunition as armor piercing in defiance of logic, military specification, and the LEOPA definition of armor piercing ammunition.

As a sporting shooter and owner of America's Rifle (the AR15 type), M855 ammunition is used in recreational, competitive, and hunting uses more than any other type of ammunition in the world and allowing BATFE to ban this ammunition after nearly 30 years would pose a hardship without benefit on the American shooting public and have a negative financial impact to the United States as it would force the cost of surplus and out of specification ammunition normally sold to the public to be destroyed at the expense of GOCO ammunition plants. The loss of such sales would be a financial hardship on the commercial operators of these plants supporting our military and put American taxpayer jobs at risk.

Please stop the BATFE from banning M855 ammunition sales to the American public.

Thank you,

AABBCC

---------------------------------------------------------------------
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
***************************************************************************
IMPORTANT: It is our intention to honor all "remove" requests promptly.
To unsubscribe from this list, or change the email address where you
receive messages, please go to:
https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=6903859&id_secret=6903859-d212d342

Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=6903859&id_secret=6903859-d212d342
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com

Below is a the example letter from VCDL to BATF.

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.

##

I sent my email. I hope everyone else does as well.

Send a FAX to AFT and Congress. Takes 30 seconds of your time.

http://www.savem855.com/Default.aspx

Sign petition to Feds - Takes 60 seconds of your time.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-batfe-banning-xm855-ammunition/XrvVh1cj

Please use and copy these links and post to as many social media outlets that you can.

I sent the BATFE an e-mail, signed the petition and utilized the fax option to contact my reps. I appreciate the time taken to make this thread and provide this information.

Still need 50k+ more signatures...let's go folks!

What a stupidly written petition. You would think that someone trying to get 100,000 signatures would at least bother to use complete sentences. Or proper grammar. Or, you know, make the basic arguments in support of his position.

I signed the petition, wrote congressmen and did my part. The Petition is written well enough to get 50k signatures in a week or so, not too bad compared to some of them on that site.

I agree with V8, but it already had 30,000ish signatures so it made more sense just to go ahead with it.

Wrote Congresswoman, who I think will help, and our useless Senators who likely won't.

Don't get me wrong, I hope they get their signatures, but if you don't make your own arguments, the White House sure isn't going to do it for you. They could have at LEAST bothered to mention that the statute requires a bullet core to be constructed "ENTIRELY" of steel, the M855 core is about 2/3 lead. To the ATF, 33 is 100.

The response I got from Sen Warner:


Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) proposal to ban certain types of SS109 and M855 cartridges. I appreciate your contacting me on this issue.

On February 13, 2015, ATF released a proposed framework that would ban ammunition made of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium that can be used in a handgun. In addition to reclassifying these popular kinds of ammunition as "armor piercing," the framework also provides guidance as to what ammunition is "primarily intended for sporting purposes," in accordance with the Gun Control Act of 1968. I encourage you to share your thoughts directly with ATF so that they may also benefit from your views as they formulate a final proposal.

ATF has assured me that they will carefully consider all comments received on or before March 16, 2015. You may submit your comments in one of the following ways:

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

Again, thank you for contacting me. I will keep your opinion in mind should the Senate address this issue or other relevant legislation. For further information or to sign up for my newsletter please visit my website at http://warner.senate.gov.

if it DOES NOT get enough signatures ....that sends a message too

here is my response from Congressman Griffith.

Thank you for contacting me regarding ammunition and the actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

I was proud to join House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) in sending a letter to ATF Director B. Todd Jones, calling on the agency to abandon this framework and exposing the serious problems it will cause. My colleagues and I also raise concerns that this notice was issued in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act without the required publication in the Federal Register. Finally, we demand from the ATF more information on the reasoning behind the new framework.

We wrote this letter because, on February 13, 2015, the ATF issued 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)." This document sets forth a new test for determining whether certain projectiles fall within an exemption to the federal ban of the manufacture, importation, and sale of ammunition otherwise considered "armor piercing."

The Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1986 established a ban on "armor piercing" ammunition. To prevent inference with the lawful use of ordinary rifle ammunition, Congress included in LEOPA an exemption for projectiles that the Attorney General determines are "primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes."

This framework announces a new standard that the ATF will use in deciding which projectiles fall under the "sporting purposes" exemption. It establishes a two-pronged rule based on what it describes as an "objective test." First, the exemption will apply the exemption to "a 22 caliber projectile...if the projectile weights 40 grains or less AND is loaded into a rimfire cartridge." Second, the ATF will exempt other projectiles that are "loaded into a cartridge for which the only handgun that is readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade is a single shot handgun." ATF still retains the power to withhold the exemption from a projectile "if substantial evidence exists that the ammunition is not primarily intended for sporting purposes." In this document, ATF also announced that is rescinds the "sporting purposes" exemption that it previously granted to M855 5.56 x 45mm cartridges in 1986 for its inconsistency with the new test.

Several flaws in this unworkable framework are already apparent, and this new test deviates from the intent of LEOPA by imposing a ban on ammunition commonly used in a lawful manner. The M855 round is frequently used in the AR -15 rifle, the most popular rifle design in the country. The ATF's interpretation of the term "primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes" disregards the numerous legitimate uses for firearms in our country.

As you know, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." While some may disagree, I believe the plain language of this Amendment guarantees the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms of their choosing. I strongly oppose limitations on the Second Amendment rights of mentally fit, law-abiding gun owners. We must not hinder the ability of law-abiding citizens to bear arms.

Like you, I have serious concerns that arbitrary rulings by the ATF and other federal agencies may needlessly limit the freedom of millions of law-abiding American citizens. There are hundreds of existing firearms laws in this country. The key to limiting the unlawful use of firearms is enforcement of existing laws, not adding new laws. Many laws being considered by Congress attempt to make people feel secure without providing any real security. The ATF plays an important federal role in enforcing laws that govern alcohol and tobacco diversion, firearms, explosives, and arson. However, the ATF must always respect the right of law abiding citizens to purchase and own firearms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

Please know that I will continue to pay very close attention to the ongoing debate on gun ownership rights. I will not waiver in my convictions on these issues.

For more information on what is happening in Congress, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov
. If I may be of further assistance to you on this, or any other issue, please feel free to contact me in my Washington, DC office at (202) 225-3861. I remain


Sincerely yours,

H. MORGAN GRIFFITH
Member of Congress

Was ATF asking for comments just for show?
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlic...nition-n1966761