by According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Bullet Points for November 18th, a coalition of groups has requested that Attorney General Eric Holder apply the “‘sporting purposes’ exemption to the definition of armor piercing ammunition set forth in the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA).”
The letter accuses ATF of sitting on petitions from ammunition manufacturers for exemptions for ammo made from materials such as brass and copper. While these materials fail the composition test set forth by the Gun Control Act of 1968, the law does provide an exemption for products clearly intended for sporting purposes. Long range target shooting and hunting would both clearly be sporting purposes.
The letter from these groups (seen below) makes a good case for why such ammo should be granted an exemption. That said, I don’t think there is a chance in hell of Eric Holder pushing ATF to act on these petitions. Not only is Holder anti-gun, he tries to portray himself as pro-cop which would cause him to rule out any ammo that could be considered “armor piercing”. It is a sham but it is what it is.
1. Who knew that Fudds were such "joiners"?
2. Asking Holder for anything is asking for trouble. NFATCA thought they were "working with" the ATF (insert your own version of Aesop's frog-and-scorpion fable here) and, lo! and behold, the final rule was a compete screwing for NFATCA.
3. The sporting-purposes test, copied by corrupt Senator Thomas Dodd from Nazi gun law, needs to die, not be the basis for our humble petitions to our lords and betters. Tugging your forelock to Holder is not seen as a token of respect for his office: it's interpreted as a contemptible display of submission.
Odds that this leads to approval of the hunting and shooting groups' petition – 0%.
Odds that it leads to a situation worse than the status quo ante w/r/t imported, and domestic, ammunition: about 70%.
Yes, we rightfully blame this administration for its anti-gun rights stance and actions, but it is Congress we need to hold accountable for keeping these idiotic laws on the books.