It's Starting

HR 45 notwithstanding, the socialists in charge of the government are slowly turning the screws on gun owners by tightening the supply of ammunition. From Commentary:

Every year, the federal government buys massive amounts of ammunition, primarily to meet the needs of the military. For years, the government has been recouping part of its ammunition expenses by reselling the used casings to remanufacturers. In turn, these private companies take the used brass, clean it up, re-load it with powder and bullets, and sell it on the private market — largely to police departments, but to private individuals as well.

I used to "roll my own" so to speak, I reloaded my own ammo. Reloads are cheaper then new ammo as you don't need to buy the cartridge casing. Just punch out the old primer, resize it, and add new components.

Well, all that is changing. The Obama administration is changing the rules on re-selling used bullet casings. From now on, they cannot be sold for remanufacturing, but rather must be liquidated at scrap value. To guarantee used bullet casings cannot be re-used, they must be deformed beyond functionality.

These scrap items are small and cheap, but add up in bulk. Remanufacturers pay about five times what salvagers offer for the casings. The government is taking an 80% cut in revenues with this new rule — and that doesn’t count the extra effort and expense of mutilating the casings in the process.

The consequences of this change? Quite a few remanufacturers are cutting back business drastically, if not closing up shop entirely. In a time of economic crisis, this change of policy could destroy an entire industry.

Obama doesn't care about the economy, he cares about his agenda.

By removing a key element in the ammunition supply chain — the used casings — the Obama administration can, by a simple and unpublicized tweak in Defense Department policy, drive down the supply of ammunition. Even the most devout socialists must concede that the law of supply and demand is at work here: by drying up the supply of ammunition, the cost will go up. And guns with no ammunition are useless.

It isn’t just civilians who buy remanufactured ammunition. Police departments also buy and use it. So communities all across the nation will soon notice their police budgets going up as they have to purchase brand-new ammunition, at a significantly higher price.

In pursuit of his anti-firearm agenda, Obama did not need to pass any legislation. Just give some bureaucrat an order. The Shootist has more detail.

It is an end-run around Congress. They don't need to try to ban guns--they don't need to fight a massive battle to attempt gun registration, or limit "assault" weapon sales.Nope. All they have to do is limit the amount of ammunition available to the civilian market, and when bullets dry up, guns will be useless.

Think we jest?

The Shootist then lists copies of letters from the DoD to businesses that have a contract to buy the used military brass. This is one of two letters received by Georgia Arms, effectively cancelling it's contract to purchase 30,000 rounds of expended brass.

Dear Valued Customer:

Please take a moment to note important changes set forth by the Defense Logistics Agency:

Recently it has been determined that fired munitions of all calibers, shapes and sizes have been designated to be Demil code B. As a result and in conjunction with DLA's current Demil code B policy, this notice will serve as official notification which requires Scrap Venture (SV) to implement mutilation as a condition of sale for all sales of fired munitions effective immediately. This notice also requires SV to immediately cease delivery of any fired munitions that have been recently sold or on active term contracts, unless the material has been mutilated prior to sale or SV personnel can attest to the mutilation after delivery. A certificate of destruction is required in either case.

Thank you,

DOD Surplus
15051 N Kierland Blvd # 300
Scottsdale, AZ
85254

I guess Georgia Arms is no longer a "Valued Customer" under the Obama business plan. Georgia Arms. is the fifthest largest manuafacturer or pistol/rifle ammunition in the US. They will now probably lay off half of their workforce.

WHOA! Go here! It appears that we made enough noise to make a difference!

Dear Loyal Customers,
Thanks to your voice, DOD has rescinded the order to mutilate all spent cases as of 4:30 pm on 3/17/09. We appreciate the time and effort that you expended, together we all made a difference. We will be posting the email we received from DOD as well as any additional information within the next 12-16 hours. Thanks so much and lets get to work!!!
Georgia Arms