ATF on already banning stuff without proper comment period: Oops, our bad
Yeah, our Regulation Guide saying ATF has already banned green tip, we didn’t mean it and we meant to follow the law:
Media reports have noted that the 2014 ATF Regulation Guide published online does not contain a listing of the exemptions for Armor Piercing Ammunition, and concluding that the absence of this listing indicates these exemptions have been rescinded.
Please be advised that ATF has not rescinded any Armor Piercing Ammunition exemption, and the fact they are not listed in the 2014 online edition of the regulations, was an error, which has no legal impact on the validity of the exemptions. The existing exemptions for armor piercing ammunition, which apply to 5.56 mm (.223) SS 109 and M855 projectiles (identified by a green coating on the projectile tip), and the U.S .30-06 M2AP projectile (identified by a black coating on the projectile tip), remain in effect.
The listing of Armor Piercing Ammunition exemptions can be found in the 2005 ATF Regulation Guide on page 166, which is posted here.
The 2014 Regulation Guide will be corrected in PDF format to include the listing of Armor Piercing Ammunition exemptions and posted shortly. The e-book/iBook version of the Regulation Guide will be corrected in the near future. ATF apologizes for any confusion caused by this publishing error.
March 7th, 2015 at 1:39 am
Sure I believe the ATF was going to follow the law and it was just a paper work error leaving M855 out of the exempted guild lines and gold bars come out of my a$$ when I take a dump
March 7th, 2015 at 2:12 am
Actually it was a misprint. The file was supposed to be dated 2015.
March 7th, 2015 at 10:38 am
As far as any alphabet agency is concerned, whatever they do is “following the law”.
March 7th, 2015 at 11:01 am
Wait until someone tells them that most any rifle caliber ammunition will penetrate most common form of protective vest. Guess that’ll be their excuse to ban and confiscate all rifles and associated ammunition.
March 7th, 2015 at 11:29 am
MAJMike, exempting their rifles and ammo. Because, how would a gun confiscation be enforced? By guns, of course!
March 7th, 2015 at 1:55 pm
The ATF may have gone a step too far. They just put themselves on the radar of Republican Congressmen. While Obama would veto their abolition, this could be a campaign issue and the next guy may be happy to see the ATF gone.
March 7th, 2015 at 2:22 pm
Um… Yeah, right… Check’s in the mail too!
March 7th, 2015 at 3:15 pm
@ Bram
You mean the same republican congressmen that held a winning hand on the amnesty funding thing and still folded?
The same republican congressmen that failed to get results on the fast and furious gunrunning scheme?
Or the IRS political targeting scandal?
Or anything else for that matter. Yeah, keep hope alive…
March 7th, 2015 at 5:40 pm
Yeah, the republicans will save us. Yippee!
March 8th, 2015 at 11:41 am
Ask them if they’re going to fix the misprints where they say they’re going to continue to enforce the NFA ’34.
March 9th, 2015 at 8:53 am
If the lives of the LEOs are so precious, why do they even let them out on the street to be exposed to the badness of green tipped death? Maybe they should just stay at the station guarded by locally hired security guards. They could have their coffee and such delivered.
March 9th, 2015 at 9:01 am
Honestly, you may not really *WANT* the ATF gone. There is a good chance that their functions would be turned over to the FBI, who would likely be a bit more competent at trying to slowly strangle the gun culture in the United States.
March 9th, 2015 at 10:51 am
MAJMike,
Some of us believe that the ban on M855 is a “toe in the water” kind of move. If they succeed (and it appears that they have so far), we suspect that they will start looking for other rifle calibers to declare “AP” that have handguns chambered for them.
Does anyone know of a rifle caliber that there HASN’T been a contender barrel made for?
s
March 9th, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Stuart,
They would have to issue a “New New Framework” to replace this “New Framework” if they were going to ban more ammo based on the Contenders. The 855 ban is part of a larger document that seems to say that as long as the only pistols available are single shots like the Contenders sporting exemptions are possible.
The document also notes that standard rifle ammo can pierce a kevlar vest just as well as 855 but that they can’t ban it because it doesn’t fall under the definitions given in the law, so banning standard ammo would require them to issue a rule that says “ignore the definitions of “Armor Piercing–We’re going to fix a ‘loophole’ in the law and change the test to ‘can pierce armor.'”