Attorneys General from 28 states say a letter from 20 anti-gun AGs is another attempt to chip away at Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
The Attorneys General of 28 states are demanding that President Joe Biden ignore a request to investigate the Lake City Army Ammunition plant’s policy of selling 5.56 mm rifle ammunition to civilians.
A Jan. 24 letter written by Attorneys General Andrew Bailey of Missouri, Brenna Bird of Iowa, and Todd Rokita of Indiana and signed by 25 other attorneys general, warns that ending sales would harm America’s military readiness and do nothing to prevent crime.
The letter derides a previous missive, dated Jan. 9 and written by New York Attorney General Letitia James and signed by 19 other Attorneys General calling for the investigation, as dangerous and uninformed.
According to the James letter, the Lake City plant in Missouri has flooded communities with “military-grade” ammunition that has been used in a number of mass shootings.
“Compounding the horror, the bullets used in this violence were subsidized by American taxpayers, as the federal government has apparently invested more than $860 million to improve production,” the letter reads.
In their response, Mr. Bailey and his colleagues claim the writers of the Jan. 9 letter either don’t understand or are ignoring the facts.
“The Democrats’ letter contains a litany of errors. These errors demonstrate our colleagues’ outright ignorance of firearms and ammunition,” the Jan. 24 letter reads.
In a statement on his website, Mr. Bailey wrote that shutting down the plant would make Americans less safe, in addition to costing his state hundreds of jobs.
“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,” Mr. Bailey wrote in a statement on his website. “I’m proud to stand in the gap with these like-minded attorneys general to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
Mr. Rokita agreed. In a statement on the Indiana Attorney General’s website, Mr. Rokia wrote that the principle at play covers more than just military readiness.
“A tyrant’s tactic is to chip away at liberties little by little,” he wrote. “Americans cannot exercise their constitutionally protected right to use their firearms without access to ammunition. That’s why we’re taking a strong stand.”
