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NRA Director Sen.
Larry Craig's Ammunition Ban Amendment by Angel Shamaya Published: February 26, 2004 KeepAndBearArms.com -- While National
Rifle Association officials were busy denying that they'd been orchestrating a
sellout in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) -- an NRA Director -- had
been working on an ammunition ban amendment. On the Senate floor Thursday, he introduced,
discussed, defended and tried to justify the "Craig/Frist" amendment (Sen.Amendt
2625).
This amendment, said Craig, is needed "to strengthen current armor piercing
ammunition law." NRA's point-man in the U.S. Senate says that this is
"what the law enforcement community needs." "We don't want to wipe out the
hunting and sporting ammunition," said Craig. The "sporting
purpose" test was used before -- as justification for firearm rights
infringements via the 1938 Nazi
Weapons Law and later copied nearly
verbatim in the U.S. Gun Control Act of 1968. "Let's send a message that armor
piercing ammunition is flat off limits," said Sen. Craig. The NRA Director went on to support
strong enforcement of his proposed ammunition ban, using phrases like
"prison for life." Nobody can doubt that Senator Craig is
one of the strongest supporters of the Second Amendment in Congress today. And
his amendment was in response to Sen.
Kennedy's much worse AP ammo-related amendment. However, the Second Amendment does not enumerate
the right of the people to keep and bear "sporting" arms. Banning any
arms, or their ammunition, is clearly off limits to Congress. A longtime
Director of the National Rifle Association ought to know that. Instead, he's
supporting ammo restrictions -- based on the infamous Nazi "sporting
purpose" text -- on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Some might suggest that it doesn't
matter what gets said on the Senate floor -- that what matters is what gets
signed into law. People who believe that ought to consider the dangers here.
Once a "pro gun" congressman publicly expresses support for ammunition control, he empowers the enemy and
emboldens future attempts to whittle away our rights. The truth about civilian possession of
"armor piercing ammunition" is immutable, immovable, unchanging. If
government employees can deploy AP ammo against the people, denying that same
ammunition to the people is directly contradictory to the meaning, purpose and
intent of the Second Amendment: a balance of power. The excuse for banning AP ammo --
"to protect law enforcement employees" -- is a dangerous road to
travel. It's the same justification used to ban magazines that hold more than
ten rounds. It's the same reason given to deny The People free access to
machineguns. It was the same foundation upon which the Clinton/Feinstein
semi-auto rifle ban was built and signed into law. When does that excuse stop working?
When the legal magazine capacity is reduced to five rounds? When all
semi-auto rifles are banned? When owning a bullet-resistant vest means life
imprisonment -- unless the government signs your paycheck? When all handguns are
banned? If you use "protecting law
enforcement" as justification to restrict the right of the people to keep
and bear arms -- if you accept that unacceptable excuse for chipping away at the
Second Amendment -- then lay down your arms and go tend your garden, catch up on
your reading and forget about restoring the Second Amendment. There's no end to
that excuse other than total disarmament -- because even a mere single shot .22
caliber rifle manufactured before World War One can be used to injure a law
enforcement officer. Bear in mind that Sen. Craig's ammo ban
amendment was being offered by him -- to amend his own bill. The Protection
of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (S1805)
is written to protect gun manufacturers from the frivolous lawsuits being waged
by those whose ultimate goal is to ban all firearms. The bill is being used as a
rider for many other gun controls, leading up to the final vote on
Tuesday. Sen. Craig made the above statements on
C-SPAN. We acquired the text of the Craig-Frist
AP ammo amendment. You can read it on the Government Printing Office website here,
or read it on our site here: http://KeepAndBearArms.com/laws/CraigSA2625.pdf NOTE: Contrary to a good deal of
misinformation spread widely across the internet, the Craig-Frist Ammo Ban
amendment (Sen.Amendt
2625) has not yet been voted on. During a vote on Thursday, C-SPAN's said
the Craig-Frist AP ammo ban was being voted on when in fact a different Craig-Frist
amendment (Sen.Amendt
2628) was being voted on. |
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