A letter signed by more than 100 congressman to the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms opposing a proposal to outlaw popular ammunition, other than for official government use, is a "good first step" but is not enough, according to Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America.
During an appearance Thursday on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum," Pratt said he doesn't believe the letter will result in action.
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It "doesn't cut the money off from anything that the president is doing, including his intention to move to an ammo ban," he said. "They're afraid to cut the money off because the president threatens that he will 'shut the government down' when no such thing will happen. At most it will be a slowdown, perhaps, of the Department of Homeland Security until they gave that card away.
"The fact is they're not serious in the Congress about stopping the president. The way to stop him is to shut his money off. They won't do it and so I don't believe anything they're saying until they come up with a resolution that says none of these funds may be used for the pursuit of executive order and then fill in the number."
The ATF is proposing a ban on the armor-piercing M855 AR-15 green tip ammo. The AR-15 is a popular sporting rifle.
Fox News reported last month that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte characterized the proposed ban as a back-door way for President Barack Obama to ban the AR-15 rifle, something he has tried and failed to do in the past.
Now, Obama is "taking his pen and his cellphone and, through the ATF, is trying to ban the second most popular ammunition that is used in that rifle," said Goodlatte.
The ATF argues that the ammo falls into a category of weaponry that can be used on law enforcement, according to Fox News, something Pratt said is "made up out of whole cloth."
"They need to be asked, so, who are the officers who have laid to rest as a result of the use of this ammunition in a handgun, let alone in a rifle, which is what it was primarily designed for?" he said. "I don't think they're going to come up with even one case and certainly not any officer dying when protected by standard body armor because these bullets out of a rifle will go through standard body armor no matter what, whether it's the particular AR-15 ammo they're trying to ban or other AR-15 ammo or any other rifle ammo other than .22?
"It can all go through standard body armor. That's a simple fact. What they're looking for, obviously, is an excuse to ban something of the Second Amendment and when you want to do something bad enough, any excuse is a good excuse no matter how. It's crazy."
The administration's attempts to make the ammo illegal have sent sales of it through the roof, according to Pratt.
"Pictures of the president are going up in gun stores with the caption underneath, 'salesman of the year,' " he said. "So he's at least good for one industry but I wouldn't say that's the way I'd like to see the industry prosper."
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