Can this really happen?

[suitableperson]

Ammo Ban And Registration Proposal Getting Fresh Look
December 15, 2008
Right Side News Reports
Happy Holidays: Now dispose of all of your ammunition! Every last round! From now on, you will be able to buy only overpriced ammunition that will be registered to you in a government database.
Not yet--at least for now. A small company, Ammunition Accountability--which wants to help anti-gunners price and regulate the Second Amendment out of existence, profit at the expense of our rights, or both--has found radical anti-gun legislators in 18 states willing to introduce bills pushing such nonsense.
But few anti-gun proposals are so overtly aimed at destroying the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. As we began noting on http://www.nraila.org/ in January, so-called "encoded ammunition" or "serialized ammunition" bills would require ammunition manufacturers to engrave a serial number on the base of the bullet and the inside of the cartridge casing of each round of ammunition for popular sporting caliber center-fire rifles, all center-fire pistols, all .22 rimfire rifles and pistols, and all 12 gauge shotguns. In all but one of the bills, people would be required to forfeit all personally owned non-"encoded" ammunition. After a certain date, it would be illegal to possess non-"encoded" ammunition. Reloading would be rendered illegal.

People would be required to separately register every box of "encoded ammunition" and the registration would be supplied to the police. Each box of ammunition would have a unique serial number, thus a separate registration. Gun owners would have to maintain records if they sell ammunition to anyone, including family members or friends. The cost of ammunition would soar, for police and private citizens alike. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Institute estimates it would take three weeks to produce ammunition currently produced in a single day. A tax of five cents a round would be imposed on private citizens, not only upon initial sale, but every time the ammunition changes hands thereafter. (more from SAAMI HERE and Senate Bill 357)

And to what benefit in terms of fighting crime? Criminals already steal guns and would certainly steal ammunition. Burglaries would be encouraged. Criminals could also use shotguns, which fire pellets too small to encode, and which use shell casings made of plastic, which would be difficult to engrave. Criminals could also collect ammunition cases from shooting ranges, and reload them with molten lead bullets made without serial numbers.

Congress eliminated a handgun ammunition sale recordation requirement in 1983, because there was no law enforcement benefit. Be on the lookout in your states in the next legislative session for anti-gun zealots who refuse to learn from history, plus continue their crusade against our Second Amendment rights.

 

[Raoul Duke]

This comes and goes and we've discussed it at length. In a nutshell, this is basically active marketing by the firm that wants the .GOV to buy it's technology. Generally when it hits the politician's desk they see how unfeasible it is, but ocasionally they don't. Either way, it's been going on for quite some time and it really is an example of commerce trying to make a market for it's product at our expense.

 

[cyberlogicx]

If they do that, would you be able to order custom serials and engraving? I'd go for that, all Wanted style!

 

[pdm]

This comes and goes and we've discussed it at length. In a nutshell, this is basically active marketing by the firm that wants the .GOV to buy it's technology. Generally when it hits the politician's desk they see how unfeasible it is, but ocasionally they don't. Either way, it's been going on for quite some time and it really is an example of commerce trying to make a market for it's product at our expense.

For some, that's a feature, not a bug.

 

[FunYun]

Its very doubtful this will ever happen.

The biggest issue would be the data base. CCI makes 4 million rounds of just rimfire ammo a day. Times that with centerfire X every other maker X 365 and you'll see this will get massive in very short ammount of time. Your also not storing just numbers, but manufactuar info, dealer/distributor info, and owners info. Then you still have to manage and enter all the secondary sales data. Then at the end of the day you have millions of empty casing laying around at every range just waiting to be picked up and scattered at any crime scene.

Thats just the data base.

Now add up all the increased cost to the customer and the .gov, people will not be pleased.

 

[matt1956]

Now add up all the increased cost to the customer and the .gov, people will not be pleased.

do you think the government gives a shit if the "people" are pleased?

I could see that Obama trying to push this shit.

 

[Rob]

Its very doubtful this will ever happen.

The biggest issue would be the data base. CCI makes 4 million rounds of just rimfire ammo a day. Times that with centerfire X every other maker X 365 and you'll see this will get massive in very short ammount of time. Your also not storing just numbers, but manufactuar info, dealer/distributor info, and owners info. Then you still have to manage and enter all the secondary sales data. Then at the end of the day you have millions of empty casing laying around at every range just waiting to be picked up and scattered at any crime scene.

Thats just the data base.

Now add up all the increased cost to the customer and the .gov, people will not be pleased.

I was thinking along the exact same lines. However, there is another way they could do this. They could tell/force every ammo producer in the country to stop production immediately. The nation's ammo business goes kaput overnight and these new 'traceable' rounds are introduced at 5000X the price of current ammo and in pathetically small quantities. Besides being unethical and evil, is there anything stopping the .gov from declaring that "ammunition manufacturing is now illegal unless...?"

Anything can be regulated and taxed - for example: prohibition, the FDA, the EPA, and lastly the irritating BATFE. All it takes is the morons in office to push it hard enough. The general populace has no recourse. The country shot itself in the foot on Nov 4th (pun intended) and we're bleeding our freedoms away.

 

[Geoff C]

better pick up one of these. i wouldn't want my empty casings getting into the wrong hands.

 

[mikem317]

Doubtful. More likely they'll be some federal hyper-tax levied on ammo and reloading materials.

 

[In_God_We_Trust]

Doubtful. More likely they'll be some federal hyper-tax levied on ammo and reloading materials.

Agreed: Why would Congress give the money to a corporation that is trying to whore their poison when they can fill their coffers with a mega-tax. If it comes between a tax and a POS Spruce Goose, Pie in the sky, will never work plan that will PROHIBIT tax money from being generated...

My vote is on a mega-tax to "save the children".

 

[mikem317]

Agreed: Why would Congress give the money to a corporation that is trying to whore their poison when they can fill their coffers with a mega-tax. If it comes between a tax and a POS Spruce Goose, Pie in the sky, will never work plan that will PROHIBIT tax money from being generated...

My vote is on a mega-tax to "save the children".

Yup. They're doing it with cigarettes, they'll do it with ammo. Tax it to the extreme where it dually serves as a de facto prohibition against lower and middle classes and as a revenue generator for the state.

I can't wait to see gun shops when this bill gets out of committee. You thought they were busy the second week of November, right?

 

[silvereye21]

i hear new york is going to tax soda, calling it an 'obesity tax'. just cuz they cant run a state without falling into a deficit it becomes the peoples problem.

 

[FunYun]

do you think the government gives a shit if the "people" are pleased?

I could see that Obama trying to push this shit.

Yes, to some amount. Everyone uses ammo, every fudd, every cop, every soldier. When the price of ammo triples, and suddenly they are required to keep track of every piece of ammo, millions of people will be effected.

This isn't like screwing with a certain style of firearm that only a relatively small amount of gun owners use.

I'm not saying nice things about Obama or anyone else. Just saying that anything more than requiring an ID to buy ammo is going to create a shit storm for all the politicians.

 

[In_God_We_Trust]

Yes, to some amount. Everyone uses ammo, every fudd, every cop, every soldier. When the price of ammo triples, and suddenly they are required to keep track of every piece of ammo, millions of people will be effected.

Good Point: What are they going to stamp on the military and LEOs ammunition? LE Only? That to me, does not pass since there is absolutely no accountability and electronic trail as to where the ammunition was stolen from in the first place. Thus, they will ALL have to be tracked, an extremely costly process at that.

I am SURE the Police Unions will have something to say about tracking their Officer's ammunition: What if an officer is assigned several boxes of ammunition and goes to a range: Someone picks up the brass, sells it as scrap and someone else reloads, and uses that in a robbery? OH yea....like a reloading ban will stop a criminal...

This is a complete scam and I will reiterate that we are more than likely to see a $5 tax per box of ammo than we are this thing ever getting this PIG off the ground.

 

[FunYun]

Good Point: What are they going to stamp on the military and LEOs ammunition? LE Only? That to me, does not pass since there is absolutely no accountability and electronic trail as to where the ammunition was stolen from in the first place. Thus, they will ALL have to be tracked, an extremely costly process at that.

I am SURE the Police Unions will have something to say about tracking their Officer's ammunition: What if an officer is assigned several boxes of ammunition and goes to a range: Someone picks up the brass, sells it as scrap and someone else reloads, and uses that in a robbery? OH yea....like a reloading ban will stop a criminal...

This is a complete scam and I will reiterate that we are more than likely to see a $5 tax per box of ammo than we are this thing ever getting this PIG off the ground.

Yep, the only way this ammo registration thing could come even close to working is if ALL AMMO is serialized. No CLEO wants his feet held to the fire over an old box of .38 that has been sitting in his desk for 3 decades.

 

[Gonzo]

Buy now, buy often, and let your representatives know how you feel.

 

[WILDCATT]

ammo

funyun:is right.each box has to have serial,how do you change numbers when the line is going as fast as ammo goes.they have not set up a way to mark ammo.they are looking for a state to vote it in.Is it true that Mass refused it and calif has not voted it in.what if the ammo companies stopped producing ammo.you think Leos would not scream their heads off?
as far as tax on ammo goes there is one it is called PItMAN ROBERTS.and is dedicated to F&G dept and range developement.Ask GOAL.

 

[Yelena]

My old friend from Russia wrote me yesterday: "Our gun right, unlike yours, are not guaranteed by our Constitution, but soon we will have more of it than you".