Washington, DC –-(Ammoland.com)- Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), a component of the Department of Justice, for 1,900 pages of records about a proposed reclassification that would effectively ban certain types of AR-15 ammunition as armor-piercing (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-02218)).
Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit after the agency failed to respond to a May 14, 2018, FOIA request for the 1,900 documents about the Obama administration’s AR-15 ammo ban efforts. The documents include ATF talking points about the “Armor Piercing Ammunition Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” and other records discussing ammunition classification.
The lawsuit is the latest development in Judicial Watch’s more than three-year effort to obtain documents from the ATF. Judicial Watch discovered the document cache in separate litigation on the ammo ban issue.
In March 2015, more than 200 members of Congress wrote to former ATF Director B. Todd Jones to express their “serious concern” that the proposal to reclassify the ammunition types as armor-piercing may violate the Second Amendment by restricting ammunition that had been primarily used for “sporting purposes.” The ATF’s move “does not comport with the letter or spirit of the law and will interfere with Second Amendment rights by disrupting the market for ammunition that law-abiding Americans use for sporting and other legitimate purposes,” the letter said. The ATF subsequently halted its efforts.
The precise statutory definition of armor-piercing ammunition can be found in 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(17).
“Simply put, the ATF refuses to comply with federal open records law,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “The ATF has withheld records for over three years concerning the Obama administration’s shady attempt to institute gun control by restricting ammunition instead of guns.”
About Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch, Inc., a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people. Judicial Watch fulfills its educational mission through litigation, investigations, and public outreach.
For more information, visit: www.JudicialWatch.org.
Alan,
You asked:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376097-trump-take-the-guns-first-go-through-due-process-second
Additionally, civil asset forfeiture has gotten easier via Trumps administration, and again, flies in the face of due process. Maybe Kavanaugh has made him come to his senses on these topics, but I’ve heard nothing to take back or change previous statements or policies that eliminate due process.
frank speak:
Did Trump actually mouth the words you attribute to him? If so, when and where, as it comes as something of a surprise to me, questions as to Trump’s state of mind aide, or are those words something he supposedly said? RSVP.
As a Life Member of the NRA, going back to 1975 or thereabouts, currently living in Pennsylvania, I too wonder as to the great crashing nothing heard from the NRA, regarding the recently enacted legislative monstrosity, HB 2060, prior to it’s enactment. Their explaination, if any is offered, might make reading of an interesting sort.
On the noncompliance of the ATF, aka BATFE with valid for what one would take to be public documents, a contempt of congress against the agency and it’t top level management/leadership would appear to be the all to obvious ” next step”, a step that should long since have been taken by Congress. Seemingly, such citation is not in evidence, leading to the following question, WHY??
@OV, I sent Granny Ginzberg a case of Jack Daniels, with the note “Drink up, Granny! At this point, what difference does it make?”
Best regards to Sammy.
Home invasion gangs who force open front doors with police type entry tools and come in all at once are now also using boat armor. We need real armor piecing bullets.