Texas Law Shield Applauds AG Paxton on M855 Letter

Texas Law Shield was glad to see that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has joined 22 other state attorneys general in urging the Obama administration to permanently discard a proposed ban on M855 5.56x45mm ammunition. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) had recently proposed the ban under the guise of police safety and then shelved regulating the ammunition after an overwhelming show off outrage.

In an opposition letter submitted to the ATF, Paxton and the other attorneys general contend that the proposed ban is arbitrary, capricious, and could easily lead to bans on a wide range of rifle ammunition.

“We applaud your recent decision not to issue a final framework on this proposal, at least for now, and we strongly encourage you not to revive it,” the letter states. “We represent our respective states as each state’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, and in that role we directly oversee or work directly with numerous federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies.

“We, as much as anyone, want to do the utmost to ensure that our brave men and women that serve in law enforcement are safe. The proposed ATF ban on M855 5.56 ammunition, however, does not advance that goal. Instead, it threatens Second Amendment freedoms and deprives shooting sports enthusiasts of a popular cartridge for a popular rifle.”

Though the rounds are mostly used in the popular AR-15, a small subset of handguns are also capable of firing M855, which would leave it liable for federal regulation as it “may be used in a handgun.” However, the M855 round does not even have a core made of the metals listed in the law; rather, it has a traditional lead core with a steel tip, and therefore should have never been considered “armor piercing” in the first place.

The letter was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

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