Ago.mo.gov Reports-
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey led a coalition of 28 states in directing a letter to President Biden and his Director of White House Office Gun Violence Prevention Stephanie Feldman, urging them to ignore the demand of Democrat attorneys general to end commercial sales from Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, one of the country’s largest ammo manufacturers, based in Missouri.
“I will not let Joe Biden sacrifice the rights of law-abiding gun owners and manufacturers on the altar of appeasement to the Radical Left. Lake City Ammunition did nothing wrong,” said Attorney General Bailey. “I’m proud to stand in the gap with these like-minded attorneys general to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
The attorneys general write, “The United States Supreme Court stated definitively that the Second Amendment guarantees a personal right to each law-abiding citizen to ‘keep and bear arms.’ But Americans cannot exercise this constitutionally protected right to use their firearms without access to ammunition. If your office does what the Democrat attorneys general ask, then ammunition prices will increase, and ammunition availability will decrease. And those restrictions on ammunition will not resolve any of the ills discussed by our colleagues.
They continue, “The Democrats’ letter contains a litany of errors. These errors demonstrate our colleagues’ outright ignorance of firearms and ammunition. Chiefly, they allege that ammunition manufactured for ‘military use’ does not belong in our communities. First, the ammunition manufactured at Lake City and sold into the commercial market is not the primary rifle cartridge used by the United States military. The primary cartridge is proprietary to the Army and may not be sold commercially. Second, while the United States military purchases and uses a particular type of ammunition, that is not determinative as to whether it is ‘military ammunition’ that should be banned for public use. If the United States military using ammunition precluded that ammunition’s use by civilians, then other widely and commonly available ammunition, including 9mm and 12-gauge shotshells, would also be prohibited for public use. Indeed, Heller does not support such an openly artificial distinction. Lake City only sells ammunition to commercial customers that is legal to manufacture. Lake City complies with all the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (‘ATF) requirements.
“Lake City cannot halt commercial use without a detrimental loss to our communities and economy. If stopped, it will result in an estimated loss of 500–700 jobs or 30%–45% of the skilled workforce now employed at Lake City and countless more throughout the supply chain. In Missouri, the 3,935 acres Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is the largest producer of small arms ammunition reportedly producing over one billion rounds of ammunition per year and employing approximately 1,700 workers.