Moran condemns ATF framework limiting M855 sporting ammo

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) today joined U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 51 Senators in expressing concern for a new proposal that would severely limit access to M855 rifle ammunition, which is primarily used for sporting purposes.

This class of ammunition is protected from prohibition under a 1986 Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act exemption.

The framework, proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), would set arbitrary guidelines for determining whether certain ammunition meets the 1986 law’s “sporting purposes” exemption.

As a result, this could result in limited access to rifle ammunition long considered to be primarily used for activities such as target shooting and hunting.

“Most troubling about the ATF’s proposal is how it intends to judge the ‘likely use’ of M855 ammunition,” Sen. Moran said. “The ATF has proposed a blatantly subjective test that will undoubtedly provide them with the results they are looking for to confirm their biases – with no consideration of how this popular sporting ammo is actually used by law-abiding Americans, including many sportsmen and women in Kansas. The ATF’s framework is nothing more than a tool for increased gun restrictions that bypass Congress. I am proud to join Senator Grassley in signing this letter, and I will continue to support Second Amendment freedoms of all Americans.”

In a letter to ATF Director Todd Jones, the senators charge that the new framework defies the intent of Congress when it passed the 1986 law.

They also question ATF’s authority to establish such a framework and express concern for its impact on Second Amendment rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

“Second Amendment rights require not only access to firearms but to bullets. If law-abiding gun owners cannot obtain rifle ammunition, or face substantial difficulty in finding ammunition available and at reasonable prices because government entities are banning such ammunition, then the Second Amendment is at risk,” the senators wrote.