A surprise change to a decades-old law could cause the supply of a cheap, widely-used sporting ammunition to dry up. On February 13, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued proposed changes to the 1968 Gun Control Act.
A key change in the new rules is to the M855 “green tip” bullet. The relatively small caliber bullet is sold as military surplus. It is widely used for target practice because of its ability to accurately, cleanly and directly pierce paper targets and it’s low price—as low as 35 cents a round.
The ATF says that the bullet should be taken off the market and out of production because firearms are available now that weren’t when the rule was last reviewed in 1986. AR-15 pistols are a recent development. According to the ATF, today there are both handgun and rifle versions of AR-15s that “utilize the same magazines and share identical receivers.”
This increase in handgun versions of rifle platforms, which the M855 bullet is used for, is a particular problem for law enforcement. Handguns are the weapons of choice for criminals, which the ATF argues puts law enforcement officers at risk.
