BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has sent a blistering letter to B. Todd Jones, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, opposing the Obama administration’s proposed ban on M855 ammunition for modern sport-utility rifles.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb told Jones in the letter that after hearing from thousands of members, he cannot blame them for being “concerned” and “furious” over the proposal, first made public on Feb. 13. If adopted, the ban would affect perhaps the most popular commercially-available ammunition for modern semi-auto rifles owned by millions of American citizens. A copy of the letter may be read here.

“The ammunition in question, M855 ball for the 5.56mm/.223 Remington modern sport-utility rifle, provides an affordable option for AR-15 owners to practice, compete, hunt varmints and control predators,” Gottlieb wrote. “The argument that there is no ‘sporting purpose’ for this ammunition is at best specious. It is the most popular ammunition for the most popular rifle in America today.

“There does not appear to have ever been a single use of this ammunition in one of the handguns chambered for the .223 Remington to injure or kill a law enforcement officer wearing soft body armor,” he added. “This proposed ban on the M855 seems like an answer to a problem that does not exist.”

Gottlieb cautioned Jones that CCRKBA members “are seriously concerned that such an administrative maneuver could easily be used again to ban other types of common rifle ammunition, all of which we both know is capable of penetrating Kevlar and similar bullet resistant vests, which were designed to stop handgun bullets.” He assured Jones that CCRKBA members “have a long tradition of support for law enforcement.”

“However,” he concluded, “I must concur with those members that the proposal appears to be a camel’s-nose-under-the-tent effort that, if successful, could easily be abused to place even more restrictions on other rifle ammunition in the future.”