Despite what some want us to believe, more gun control is DOA. So don’t hoard bullets to the point that cops don’t have enough to do their jobs.
A forwarded e-mail I received Tuesday claimed that the Department of Defense was discontinuing the sale of spent brass — used bullet shell cases — to ammunition manufacturers, which would force the companies to purchase new shells instead and would significantly increase the cost of ammo.
To top it off, the e-mail stated, “Obama wants To add a 500% tax on each shell.”
“… If you’re not outraged at what this administration is doing you should Be!” the e-mail stated. “Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!”
It’s that sort of fear mongering that is creating a truly serious situation in the United States right now. Many active participants in the right to bear arms are buying into this hype that has been spreading like wildfire over the Internet since before Barack Obama was elected president. As a result, ammo is in short supply across the nation. Some calibers are simply unavailable. And that threatens the ability of law enforcement officers to effectively do their jobs.
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White — a Republican and former congressional candidate — recently told the Albuquerque Journal that if the shortage continues, he fears his deputies will have to cut back on training to save their bullets in case there’s a serious incident.
The ammunition for the gun White carries has been on backorder for nearly three months.
“I’ve never seen it like this in my more than two decades of law enforcement,” White was quoted by the Journal as saying.
On a hunt for .22 ammo
I recently went around Las Cruces searching for .22-caliber bullets. An employee at one Wal-Mart, which sells a box of 500 for less than $14, told me the store gets ammo in regularly, but people are waiting every day when the gun counter opens at 7 a.m. and snatch up the rarities included in the new shipment within minutes. Arrive by 6:30 a.m., because if you’re not first in line, you might not get any, I was told.
Great. What day should I show up?
Don’t know, the employee said. You’ll just have to come, day after day, until you get lucky.
An employee at the other Wal Mart gave me the same story.
Then I checked Big 5, which advertised selling a box of 500 for about $19. No luck. The employee behind that gun counter told me the store hadn’t had .22 ammo for months and doesn’t expect to have any for months.
One local business had a couple of boxes, but they would cost me almost $35 apiece.
‘There are 65 pro-gun Democrats’
So what about that e-mail about the military’s spent brass? Does Obama really want to take people’s guns, further regulate their use or raise the cost of ammunition so drastically that shooting is impractical at best?
Snopes.com has the answer. In March, of the DOD did reclassify “the sale of a broad category of items,” which did “cut off some ammunition manufacturers from their largest supply of brass casings.” But, within a week and following some criticism, the agency resolved the issue by again classifying spent casings so that they could be sold to ammo manufacturers for reuse.
End of story. It was a stupid bureaucratic issue that was quickly resolved, not a conspiracy to take people’s guns.
That’s not to say that Obama doesn’t favor more gun control. He’s open about his desire to make permanent an assault weapons ban that was enacted during the Clinton years and was allowed to sunset during the W presidency. And Obama has done some not-so-bright things, like, as he prepared to take office, ask all potential appointees detailed questions about their gun ownership on a personnel form, as if it’s any of his business.
But Obama’s desires don’t matter. Further restrictions on firearms are not going to happen, at least not any time soon. When Obama’s attorney general mentioned bringing back the assault-weapons ban in February, 65 House Democrats, including New Mexico’s Harry Teague and Martin Heinrich, signed a letter to the AG telling him they won’t support that idea. That means there are enough Democrats who oppose such a proposal to ensure its death.
“Now we know there are 65 pro-gun Democrats,” Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., told The Hill at the time. “When you add up all the pro-gun Republicans and the pro-gun Democrats, that or any other anti-gun legislation is DOA.”
‘I don’t have the votes’
It really is that simple. Last month, the Houston Chronicle ran an article headlined, “Obama heeding lesson from ’94 gun ban” that begins by recounting that, “The last time a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress banned civilian sales of military-style assault weapons, it took American voters just seven weeks to rebel. They handed Republicans control of the House and the Senate for the first time in 40 years.”
Obama, according to the article, recently insisted “he had ‘not backed off’ his campaign promise to make the expired ban permanent. But he bowed to political reality, nonetheless.”
“None of us are under any illusion that reinstating that ban would be easy,” the article quoted Obama as saying. “And so, what we’ve focused on is how we can improve our enforcement of existing laws.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Obama knew even on the campaign trail last year that he didn’t have the votes for more gun control.
“Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress,’’ he said at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania in September. “This can’t be the reason not to vote for me. Can everyone hear me in the back? I see a couple of sportsmen back there. I’m not going to take away your guns.’’
The moral of the story? These are uncertain times. Stock up on some ammo if you feel the need. But don’t give in to the fear mongering and hoard beyond what’s reasonable. Our law enforcement officers need bullets, too.