Liberals next gun control target: Background checks for ammo purchases...

Team Obama is attacking ammo by claiming the lead is an environmental hazard. California demos want to require background checks. The strategy is to make ammo and gun ownership too expensive.

Via WaPo:

Following passage last year of some of the strongest gun-control laws in the nation in the wake of the school shooting in Newton, Conn., leading California Democrats will open a new front in the fight against gun violence this year with a proposal to conduct background checks on people who purchase ammunition.
State Senate Democrats will push to require a comprehensive background check on anyone seeking to purchase ammunition, and to require a one-year permit for ammunition purchases.
“Anyone can walk into any gun store, a bait and tackle store, and purchase all the ammunition they want to, no questions asked,” Sen. Kevin de Leon (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, said in an interview. “The ammunition is the fuel that feeds the violence. The gun itself, the hand gun or the long gun or the high-powered weapon is the delivery device. The gas, the fuel, is the ammunition, and no one knows who buys it.”
No other state has gone as far as to regulate ammunition purchases, de Leon said, though gun-control advocates in other state legislatures, including New York, have expressed interest in copying the proposal...

Keep on reading…

Finally: Pork infused ammo for stopping Jihadists...

It's about time...

(AmmoLand) —  You’ve probably already heard about the bizarre, Islamist slaughter of an off-duty British soldier in broad daylight on a busy street in London in May 2013.

The two assailants struck the victim with a car then jumped out and began hacking and slashing him with knives and a meat cleaver. The murderers then strutted around the victim’s body for 15 to 20 minutes until armed police arrived, upon which the self-proclaimed jihadists launched an assault on the police and were shot.

Most strange is the way that the attackers waited around after the slaughter, strutting and bragging, but not particularly threatening or attempting to harm any of the onlookers, until armed police units finally arrived, at which point the murderers commenced what could only be characterized as a suicide attack – having brought knives to a gunfight.

Many have asked why the attackers just waited around for the armed police. Why didn’t they flee or continues attacking others, as one might expect from a couple of crazed murderers? What were they waiting for?

The answer to that question is very significant. These men were waiting for their tickets to Paradise – and 72 virgins. They engaged in their act of jihad, killing an “infidel aggressor, enemy of Islam,” and then waited around for the armed police to show up so they could die in battle for Allah’s glory, martyrs, and therefore elected for special rewards in Paradise.  [...]

A company in northern Idaho has come up with a culturally sensitive solution. Jihawg Ammo has developed a proprietary system for infusing ballistic paint with pork. The special pork-infused paint is then applied to the bullets of loaded ammunition. The inclusion of pork in the paint makes the bullets haraam, or unclean. Under Islamic law, anyone who comes in contact with any haraam item is then unclean, and must engage in a cleansing ritual. No unclean person can be admitted into Paradise. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 72 virgins.

War preparations:Congress asking why DHS has 260 million rounds of ammo in stock

That's enough to shoot every adult in the country and they are buying more all the time. 

Via Fox:

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security is using roughly 1,000 rounds of ammunition more per person than the U.S. Army, as he and other lawmakers sharply questioned DHS officials on their “massive” bullet buys.

“It is entirely … inexplicable why the Department of Homeland Security needs so much ammunition,” Chaffetz, R-Utah, said at a hearing.

The hearing itself was unusual, as questions about the department’s ammunition purchases until recently had bubbled largely under the radar — on blogs and in the occasional news article. But as the Department of Homeland Security found itself publicly defending the purchases, lawmakers gradually showed more interest in the issue.

Democratic Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., at the opening of the hearing, ridiculed the concerns as “conspiracy theories” which have “no place” in the committee room.

But Republicans said the purchases raise “serious” questions about waste and accountability.

Chaffetz, who chairs one of the House oversight subcommittees holding the hearing Thursday, revealed that the department currently has more than 260 million rounds in stock. He said the department bought more than 103 million rounds in 2012 and used 116 million that same year — among roughly 70,000 agents

Change: Police departments having trouble finding ammo

When the government meddles in things, there are always unintended consequences... 

Via CNS:

The nationwide shortage of ammunition has left many police departments scrambling to get their hands on the necessary rounds – with some even bartering among each other.
Meanwhile, Rep. Timothy Huelskamp (R-Kansas) says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to respond to multiple members of Congress asking why DHS bought more than 1.6 billion rounds in the past year.

Police Chief Cameron Arthur of Jenks, Oklahoma says, “Ammunition and assault weapons in general have skyrocketed…In addition to the fact, not only is it a lot more expensive, but the time to get it could be six months to a year, or in some cases even longer.”

Arthur says he is waiting on an order placed last October and that many departments have begun to trade and barter with each other because of the high demand.

“Most police departments are having a very difficult time even getting the necessary ammunition for handguns, shotguns and especially rifles,” Arthur said.

“With the delay in ammunition, some departments are limiting the number of rounds they carry in their handgun because of the shortage of ammunition. We get to the point where it is difficult to have enough ammo to train and also equip the officers.”

Keep on reading…

Change: Ammo prices have doubled since mid-December

Obama has created a de facto form of gun control for the poor. Guns and ammo are being priced out of their range.

The price of his store's ammunition has more than doubled since mid-December, says Larry Hyatt, owner of Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte, N.C., which bills itself "America's Largest Gun Shop."

I spoke to Mr. Hyatt today about the increase in the price of ammunition since mid-December (when the gun control debate began to heat up). Hyatt said that the ammo market is "very volatile" and that he "doesn't know when the next shipment will be."

His best seller right now is .22LR caliber.  Gun owners like to shoot this caliber because it is typically a cheaper round and also optimal for target shooting, known as "plinking"

A box containing 500 rounds of .22LR was selling for approximately $20/box back in December.  Today, Mr. Hyatt tells me he is selling the same box for $49.  This represents a 145 percent increase in price.

Obama's plan to limit ammo is working...

Barack Obama has caused ammo to sell out...

Via USA Today: 

Gun shops are running low on ammunition from a run by customers fearful of potential gun-control legislation, according to gun retailers and customers.

Prices have more than doubled over past year in some shops, retailers are putting limits on the amount a customer can buy, and some common types of ammunition, such as .22-caliber long rifle shells, are hard to get.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents ammunition makers, retailers, hunters and sport shooters, attributes what it calls “spot shortages” around the country to rising popularity of sport-shooting and hunting, and to people who are “keeping firearms for personal and home defense.”

Keep on reading…

DHS has bought 1.2 billion rounds of ammunition?

Hmm... This guy is a scaremonger, but 1.2 billion rounds of ammo is a lot. 

Things that make you go hmm: DHS signs contract for 450 million rounds of .40 caliber ammo

That's a lot of ammo even if it is over a potential 4 or 5 years.

ANOKA, Minn., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK - News) announced that it is being awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) agreement from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS, ICE) for .40 caliber ammunition. This contract features a base of 12 months, includes four option years, and will have a maximum volume of 450 million rounds.

ATK was the incumbent and won the contract with its HST bullet, which has proven itself in the field. The special hollow point effectively passes through a variety of barriers and holds its jacket in the toughest conditions. HST is engineered for 100-percent weight retention, limits collateral damage, and avoids over-penetration.

"We are proud to extend our track record as the prime supplier of .40 caliber duty ammunition for DHS, ICE," said Ron Johnson, President of ATK's Security and Sporting group.  "The HST is a proven design that will continue to serve those who keep our borders safe."

ATK will produce the ammunition at the Federal Cartridge Company facility in Anoka, Minn.  Deliveries are expected to begin in June.

US Intercepts German Ship Smuggling Arms for Iran

In an embarrassing indecent for the German government, US troops boarded a German-owned freighter in early October and found eight containers full of contraband ammunition. The US was acting on an intelligence tip. Reportedly, the ammunition was headed from Iran to Syria.

SPIEGELONLINE reported:

US troops boarded a German-owned freighter in early October and found eight containers full of ammunition, allegedly headed to Syria from Iran. The shipment is in violation of a UN weapons embargo and has become a source of chagrin in Berlin.

An "embarrassing affair," is how one German diplomat described it. The official could also have added: potentially damaging to trans-Atlantic relations.

Obama is stimulating ammo sales

Gun owners are fearful the Obama administration will restrict sales. They are rushing to buy ammo and creating a shortage. CNN reported:

AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- Gun shops across the country are reporting a run on ammunition, a phenomenon apparently driven by fear that the Obama administration will increase taxes on bullets or enact new gun-control measures.

"In the last two months it's gotten very, very difficult to find ammunition," says Richard Taylor, manager of The Firing Line, a gun shop and shooting range in the Denver, Colorado, suburbs.

"There are a lot of rumors floating around that the present government would like to increase taxes on ammunition. I think [there is] just a lot of panicked buying going on."

While campaigning for the White House, Obama supported re-enacting the now-expired ban on assault weapons. But there is no indication that the administration will take up that measure -- or any other gun-control initiative --anytime soon.

Nonetheless, some gun owners aren't taking any chances.

Two weeks ago, The Firing Line was forced to impose a four-box-per-customer limit on ammo. Before that, the shop was selling 10,000 rounds of 9 mm handgun ammunition a day.