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The NRA just released the following statement in response to the news that the ATF has dropped their proposed M855 ammo ban:

NRA Forces Obama to Waive White Flag on Proposed Ammo Ban … For Now

Fairfax, Va. – The National Rifle Association (NRA) was instrumental in stalling the Obama Administration’s initial attempt to ban commonly used ammunition for the most popular rifle in America, the AR-15. The announcement that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) will suspend its proposed framework to ban M855 ammunition validates the NRA’s assertion that this effort was nothing more than a political maneuver to bypass Congress and impose gun control on the American people . . .

“Today’s announcement proves what we have said all along — this was 100% political. President Obama failed to pass gun control through Congress, so he tried impose his political agenda through executive fiat. But every gun owner in America needs to understand Barack Obama’s hatred of the Second Amendment has not changed,” said Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association.

Chris Cox, Executive Director of NRA-ILA criticized the dishonest campaign to ban this common ammunition: “The lies used to justify the ban were shameful. This proposal was never about law enforcement safety – it was about the Obama Administration’s desire to pander to billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his gun control groups. Since they haven’t been able to ban America’s most popular rifle, they are trying to ban the ammunition instead.”

Since the BATFE announced its plan to ban commonly used ammunition less than a month ago, the NRA rallied its five million members and tens of millions of supporters across the country in strong opposition. In addition, the NRA worked with congressional leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate to oppose this misguided proposal.

“The NRA would like to thank House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and House Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Culberson for leading the fight against this unconstitutional attack on our Second Amendment freedoms,” continued Cox. “This was a significant victory for our five million members and tens of millions of supporters across the country.”

“Make no mistake, this fight is not over. We will remain vigilant and continue to fight against President Obama’s attempt to dismantle the Second Amendment,” concluded LaPierre.

To view the congressional letters to BATFE, along with the Member signatures, click here and here.

To view recent op-ed in the Daily Caller by Chris Cox on the proposed ammunition ban, click here.

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110 COMMENTS

  1. And if the ATF was now to change again their opinion on the SB-15 and decide that shouldering it isn’t “manufacturing”, my year would be complete . . .

    • Actually they said, “Any person who intends to fire a handgun Stabilzing Brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol, must first file an ATF form 1…” I’m totally with you though and I think we need to get there. The idea that the ATF can “redefine” something by use should scare the hell out of the entire industry. But the reality is that opinion piece they put out is nothing more than an intimidatory letter to the industry with no legal basis whatsoever…and what I’ve quoted you is from their letter which basis it’s entirety off “Intent”. Try proving that in court…

      • Every time you properly hold a pistol you redesign it into an AOW. Pistols by law are defined to be held with 1 hand, using 2 hands obviously means you’re trying to create some kind of assault machine gun sniper pistol.

        • And that might be the ultimate goal. To require all handguns to be registered as AOWs. Because obviously (almost) all handguns are designed to be held with 2 hands.

    • It doesn’t take much to excite you then. We still have a group of powerful beaurorats deciding whether ammunition is for “sporting purposes”. How about I decide for myself what purposes I’d like to use my ammo for. Because 2A.

    • The ATF must of been afraid of being closed down by the legislation to close down the ATF that was gaining support.

      • My thoughts exactly.. Dumbo will only be around for less than 2 years, and I’m sure the ATF wants to be around much longer than that. Simply self preservation.

  3. I think the NRA has earned an extra little donation from me. I’m gonna fess up a 25 spot for the ILA tonight.

    • I’d join in for another donation if they morphed the campaign to addressing the similarly illegal 7/62/5.45 bans.

      Seems like the perfect time to do it.

      • The 7.62/5.45 ban has nothing to do with F-troupe (ATF). It applies only th Russian manufacture and is to punish Russia for invading Ukraine.

  4. I can’t be the only person slightly bothered by the NRA taking credit for this…

    Seems like the thousands and thousands of gun owners who wrote the ATF and their representatives are more responsible for this victory than them

    • So I guess they deserve no credit for coordinating the massive rapid resistance effort.

      Get real.

      • I did more complaining as a result of TTAG’s reporting and links. The NRA had nothing to do with those reports.

        • I too followed through with information provided in TTAG articles. My individual response to protest a proposal seems more genuine, though in the end, it may not matter. But numbers do.

          Form letters get boring, though they are a quick and easy method to protest and be counted when time is limited.

        • No offense to TTAG, but when is the TTAG going to fork up the same millions of dollars in legal services and lobbying services that the NRA does to fight for the 2nd amendment. People, stop the liberal support anti-NRA crap. Would you rather be divided and conquered, or would you rather welcome NRAs army of supporters and huge resources to the fight. We can argue petty differences after we win this war on our 2nd amendment rights. Geez.

        • @Bob108: The NRA does it to itself. Look at its proposal after Sandy Hook. There were thirteen sentences in that proposal that I could never support. It often comes off as a statist organization pushing statist solutions. Do they still ban carry at their national headquarters?

        • @ John in Ohio

          They didn’t have a sign, I didn’t look to hard and I still concealed carry into the NRA headquarters last winter. No fuss, no muss.

        • @Yellow Devil: If they don’t post headquarters then that is a good thing. If I think about it sometime, I’ll call them up and ask. Thanks for the information. 🙂

      • Hey I’m all for giving credit where credit is due, and I didn’t think my comment was out of place. I’m not up in arms about the NRA either, like I said, I’m just slightly bothered. It kinda rubbed me the wrong way.

        Personally, I’m not a big fan of the NRA, I feel they remain far too quiet on far too many other important firearms rights issues. But I don’t feel I was attacking them in what I said either.

    • It’s arguable, I guess–how many of those who wrote and called did so at NRA’s prodding? Does seem a tad presumptuous to me–but then, they did say they were “instrumental in”, not “responsible for” the pullback.

    • They didn’t take full credit; they said they were instrumental.

      Not every gun owner reads TTAG, or The Firearms Blog, or what-gave-you. Not every gun owner routinely peruses news outlets that covered this issue even slightly.

      But every NRA member that has an email address on file, got a notice about the proposed ban pretty darned quickly.

      So no, they don’t get sole and exclusive credit, but I don’t think calling themselves “instrumental” is overreaching.

      • Sure. The ATF says it was never a question, just a printing error or something. Do you believe that? I don’t care who gets the credit, the job got done.

        You gotta really be hating on the NRA to resent such a release, possibly more than Bloomers.

    • Not to take anything away from the tens of thousands of citizens who wrote, called and emailed, but the NRA has the lobbyists, connections and private phone numbers necessary to make sure our elected representatives take notice of all those calls, emails and letters. The huge public effort gives the NRA a something to point to, but the NRA has the clout and the relationships (and the scoring sheet) to make sure that Senators and Reps pay attention.

      Victory requires both.

      • Actually, huge public response numbers count quite a lot as it shows a tremendous level of dissatisfaction with and resistance to an anti-gun measure. It has helped derail more than a few anti gun measures here in CA over the years when the public outcry was loud and plentiful.

        And we absolutely do not have the luxury of a majority of legislative supporters in Sacramento as currently exists in Washington D. C.

    • Sure Chrispy, I bet those 200+ congress critters signed on to the effort because of the email you sent the ATF.

    • I wasn’t informed of this through the NRA initially and I had already sent mass emails before I saw anything from the NRA. They can take credit if they like, but it was we who forced the retreat.
      I have nothing against the NRA beside the fact that they are slow to react.

    • And who was walking the halls of Congress, talking with the senators and reps, explaining the situation to them in detail, showing why the proposed policy letter ran counter to the criteria for “armor piercing ammunition” already published? Was that you? Was that any of the other people who wrote their reps?

      Nah. The NRA reps got into a meeting room with several legislative leaders, ‘splained the situation in 30 minutes or less, and then these members of Congress decided to start paying attention to the reaction.

      People who think that massive letter-writing campaigns mean jack to people in Congress really need to go spend time with their rep or senator and ask them – specifically – whether big letter-writing campaigns really matter.

      The answer is: They don’t – until some group rep informs them why they should pay attention to it.

      I’m fortunate to live in a sparsely populated state, where I can actually meet senators and reps in person, outside of election seasons. If you take the trouble to actually seek out and talk to them and their senior staffs, you will learn some very interesting things. One of those things is that they know when a letter-writing campaign is “astroturf” and can be ignored, and then they need to pay attention. My read on reps/senators in Congress is that half of their meager IQ’s is spent determining when they can ignore the voters and retain their offices.

  6. ” . . .the NRA rallied its five million members and tens of millions of supporters across the country . . .”

    Well, duuh. You think? Message to scumbag politicians: mess with our rtkaba and you’ll immediately hear from 5 million very pissed off, very motivated voters. Ole’ Wayne and the NRA done good (again)!

  9. Thank-you NRA, GOA, SAF, et al. Supporting these organizations with membership makes a difference, and we all just saw an example. Join them all, it matters.

    • Amen to that. I know we all have gripes sometimes, but these forces are critical in pushing back against the Anti’s agenda. We should ALL be members of all 3 at all times.

  10. These damnable power hungry bureaucrats and government alphabet agencies are still in office, still in power. They will stay awake at night to conspire how to rob us of our rights, while most of us actually sleep. I am not sure that matters much, but we must remain vigilant.

    Thanks NRA and all who love the Second Amendment!

  11. When one of us writes a letter, it’s good . When thousands of us write letters, it’s better. When the NRA, SAF and GOA all put on the pressure, it’s best.

    And let’s thank all the elected representatives that signed to letter to the BATFE. They deserve a little note from their constituents.

    • I’ve written 2 letters so far, with another 3 to be written and mailed out to reps (Senators and House members from my state which signed and supported the opposition to the framework and pending decision by the ATF.

  12. Hold the happiness people! The ATF was quoted as saying “at this time”. The framework has not been withdrawn. The Federal Register notice deleting the exemption for the ammunition has not been withdrawn. Count on this being implemented some late Friday evening after all the hubbub has died down. Yes, I am Cassandra but I am right. Count on it.

    • Agreed. But no one was really saying this is over. The reality is the struggle is never over. We will have to keep fighting for our Freedoms every single day – and we will never turn our backs on our foe. But… we won the day today – and with the help of the NRA. As much as we gripe sometimes, we all do really need to support NRA, SAF and GOA at all times. The stronger we make these orgs (with money) is the harder we are to defeat. Peace.

  13. A victory is a victory and I’ll take it. I was very curious if anybody else thought the same thing as me when I saw the headline:
    “NRA Forces Obama to Waive White Flag on Proposed Ammo Ban”
    Oh really? The NRA is always a pain in the ass (Thank You btw!) to the clowns in Washington, but I’ll guarantee on this issue, it was the unprecedented number of emails and letters from us little people that immediately got their attention. If the NRA wants to claim all the credit, no biggie. Just thought it to be a little presumptuous and tacky.

    • I’ll defend the NRA on this one. All our belly-aching wouldn’t have amounted to a hill of beans. What made them tuck tail was the congressional letter/summons, which the NRA was instrumental in getting together.

  14. The important thing is that we should not breathe a sigh of relief. We should all contact our Congressmen and urge them to support the ATF Elimination Act. Kudos to Jim Sensenbrenner (R- Wis) for introducing this Act. We all know ATF will come back with another scheme next week. We may not close ATF, but if the Act goes forward it puts pressure on ATF and the executive branch.

  15. The NRA knew who to payoff it’s just that simple cause that’s how it’s done in Washington. I’m glad. Hopefully they can come up with more cash to fix the rest of it.

    • Well, I did it for “wa[i]ve” I guess I can do it in Spanish too. “Cajones” are cardboard boxes. “Cojones” are the things you have in mind.

  17. Congress must not stop now! They need to pass legislation removing the ability of the BATFE to even propose the banning of any ammunition without the approval of Congress!

  18. I just renewed with NRA for 5 more years and going to hook up SAF and GOA with a little something too. I am not a rich man, but I think we all need to put our money where are mouth is. We need to keep these Org’s strong, and the almighty $$$ is what talks.

  19. I’d like to see the NRA continue the push – get ATF to acknowledge that M855 didn’t require any kind of exemption in the first place and never fell under the AP ammo definition at all.

  21. The NRA spent way too much time talking about how the ammo shouldn’t be banned because it is used for sporting purposes and, as far as I know, zero time talking about how it shouldn’t be banned because it doesn’t fit the definition of armor piercing given in the law that the ATF was trying to use to ban it.

    The ATF tried to slip the new rule in under the radar without anyone noticing and hoping that if anyone did, they wouldn’t actually go and read what the law said. They got caught and will now go back to the drawing board to try to find something new they can go after.

    I really hope congress continues with their attempts to amend the laws regarding armor piercing ammo so the ATF cant try this again.

  22. Forget mistakes that the NRA made in the 70’s and 80’s… the have proved themselves to be on our side 100% over the last 10 year.

    NRA gets a little extra money from me too this month.

    Thanks NRA !!!

  23. The NRA is powerful in part because politicians are afraid of them. The perception of power is just as important as the actual power. So as long as our political class believes that the NRA can rally millions of voters, it doesn’t really matter if they actually had anything to do with ATF’s decision.

  25. ‘ Nothing is Over .’ The enemy is simply re-grouping!! They will NOT publicize the next outlaw rule change. Push the NRA and NSSF , and spineless congress to overturn the 7N6 and 5.45 x 39 bans on the same grounds. I should be able to buy a suppressor over the counter as well. STOMP the atf.

    • I agree with you, but those are bans of Russian ammo. Many people say, “Who cares?” to that. But try to ban ‘Merican ammo and this is what happens.

    • It’s a tougher fight. Historically, the government has much greater lattitude to regulate what comes over the border, versus what is made and consumed within the country. There are some sound historical reasons for that, and once there’s a friendly person in the WH, we need to look at a comprehensive legislative solution to essentially prevent the executive from blocking the the importation of any firearms, ammo, etc. which would be legal were it produced in the USA. It’s not just ammo – it’s foreign military-looking semi-autos. It’s the Garands in South Korea.

  26. Fantastic! I’m not much of a letter writer, in fact its been years sent I’ve actually typed something out on paper and mailed it with a stamp. (I always con my sweet wife into doing it for me) But in this case, I did send a letter to the committees and thanked them for upholding our Second Amendment Rights. Felt good! Congress upholding the rights of the citizen, imagine that. This is the way it’s supposed to work.
    I hope your president gets the message.

  27. Cheaper than dirt and others, have not adjusted their prices downward.

    The “new” normal.

    In full disclosure, I stopped buying from CTD after Sandy Hook.

  28. Congratulations to the NRA, SAF, The House and Senate and most especially the grass roots. This is hardly over and expect much more foolishness to come. That said, this is yet another indication that the tide is truly turning in our favor. And to all of you liberal anti-gun wet dreamers out there, we are your worst nightmare; fuck with us at your peril; in the final analysis you simply don’t stand a chance, especially since your standard bearers are the likes of Pajama-Boy and Chris Hayes. BWAAAHAAHAA!!!

    And to all of you Henny-Pennies out there, thanks for freaking out and buying out all of the 5.56. I really don’t want you in my foxhole. After the Newtown freakout and when prices stabilized to slightly above historical norms, you should have stocked up to the point where you can weather a storm without busting the market. A Scout is prepared and thrifty. Enjoy your buck a round M855, sucker.

  30. The NRA is like a dreadnaught. It draws lots of fire and can take a lot of punishment. When it focuses on a target it can usually get results. Groups like SAF are like cruisers. They may be smaller, but they can hit hard with their missiles while everyone continues to focus on the NRA. I say, let the NRA do a dance. It pisses off an emotional based decision making leftists.

    • Man that is a great analogy.
      I pay my share to keep them all fueled and ammo’d up. There was a time when I didn’t, and I’ve been making up for it. The reality is they have to pick their fights. They don’t have unlimited fuel and ammo. I know we’ve probably all had a fight we wish they would have taken up. But without them today, it would have been a very different outcome.

  31. Translation: everybody renew and maybe chip in another few bucks for good measure. Also good time to join SAF etal.

    • Not going to happen because the ammo is “commie garbage” and like another poster posted above because it is not American and does not personally affect most gun owners they do not care so it will remain banned unless a law is written to strip the ATF of their power to ban ammo re-legalizing imports.

  33. Why is everyone doing a victory lap? This isn’t over!
    Where is our cheap milsurp 7n6 and M43?
    Lets keep it up!

    • This. Crush the enemy FULLY. Push H.R.1329 (Sensenbrenner ) to abolish this most wretched hive of scum and villany.

  35. The anti-gunners will push as far as they can without facing significant resistance. In this case I think it’s clear the ATF was afraid that its wide-ranging (and largely self-declared) authority would face scrutiny and possible limitation.

  36. When it comes to liberals, all gun rights organizations is basically the NRA.

    Much like to reporters all guns are AK-47s or Glocks.

  37. I hope someone is collecting Ladd Everett’s tears. They will have magical properties.

  38. Only 80,000 comments? The Net Neutrality issue got the FCC hit with around 4 million comments. WTF.

    • As much as this is a nation of gun owners, we’re more a nation of porn watchers. Grab my guns make me angry, grab my tittays and I’ll lose my mind y’all…4 million times…to the FCC.

      • Why do people always assume that if someone disagrees with them, they must be paid for astroturfing?

        Many people genuinely care about NN. More so those who actually understand what the implications of Internet with and without it are. Most software engineers are pro-NN for this reason.

        • @ int19h And why people, left or otherwise, support a 300+ page decision that the public had no input on or the ability to read before it was passed by 5 person panel (well 3 out of 2 along party lines) in a 3 letter bureaucracy is beyond me.

          Like icebergs, the government supporters of net neutrality only revealed the smallest part of the proposal on the surface. The fact they had to come out and say the FCC won’t consider taxes and extra fees (at this time) should be a warning right there.

  39. Anyone who actually believes that the money and clout of the NRA on Capitol Hill wasn’t instrumental in the outcome of this particular 2nd amendment rights skirmish is probably convinced that bluster and bull$#it from those on the fringe like our favorite predictable Buckeye and their demented calls for insurrection on TTAG forced the ATF retreat on this latest gun control subterfuge .

    • Of course the NRA was instrumental, you silly goose! I’d dare say that the NRA’s involvement really pushed the issue in our favor. I’d rather have the NRA with us than against us. If they were silent, it wouldn’t be far out of line to say that the opposition might construe it as the NRA being in opposition to a position on a particular firearms issue.

      Bless your little heart, Teddy! ;o

  40. We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. (B. Franklin)
    OK folks, The NRA, TAG, SAF, et al which includes 2A bloggers and 2A related stores as well as individuals that commented take a victory lap!

    Now everyone pause take a breath and get ready for the next round in 2A restrictions to arrive. They are there in the wings just waiting to see the light of day or dead of night. This administration is no different than the Nixon, Bush I, Clinton and others. There IS and WILL BE more attempts to be made.

    Everyone worked TOGETHER to defeat the attempted ban, but now folks are splintering in who did what. To that I say everyone should get credit for their part and move on.

    Remember, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.

  41. I’m glad to see my NRA dues are finally accomplishing something. Alan Gura, the SAF, and the smaller 2A groups can’t do ALL the work.

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