There has been a decent amount of news in the GunBlog community about recent attempts to get Ammunition Microstamping regulations passed in the various states.
Jerry the Geek did a round up of them here (just click the clink and keep scrolling).
Unfortunately he missed one. It was easy to miss, and so did I until I did an unconventional search in the Washington State Legislature website.
HB 3359 – Concerning Pistol Ammunition
Section 1: Beginning January 1, 2010, all pistol ammunition manufactured in the state, imported into the state, or kept or offered for sale, sold or transfered in the state, must be coded ammunition as defined in RCW 9.41.010.
RCW 9.419.010 is then listed at the bottom of Page 7 with the requirements needed to meet the definition of “Coded Ammunition”. They include alphanumeric identifiers etched into both the base of the projectile and the inside of the case of the round.
HB 3359 also calls for a new section to be created in the Washington State Department of Licensing that will license and list all sellers of ammunition. These sellers will have to take information from the buyer during every ammunition purchase (alphanumeric identifier on the ammunition, the name, DOB and driver’s license or other state issued ID of the ammunition purchaser, to be entered on an as yet uncreated new state registration form which the licensed seller has to keep for three years from the date of purchase).
While it only mentions it as a future part of the bill, it does request a “Centralized Ammunition Database” to be created to maintain these records indefinitely.
The bill’s writer and primary sponsor is Democrat Al O’Brien (LD-1) serving northeast King and south Snohomish Counties. I find it strange that a Marine would write a bill such as this, but I guess John Murtha is a dick as well.
It is co-sponsored by three other Democrats, one them being of my senior House member, Democrat Dennis Flannigan. I’m currently in the process of attempting to tame down my letter a bit, lest he find me unhinged.
But spread the word on this to anyone you know in Washington. HB 3359 is currently sitting still doing nothing, but it HAS been introduced which means it could, like Herpes, lie dormant for a couple years before it gets ugly.
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And since we’re spreading words about gun law, spread this one around too: Support HR 4900 in the US House of Representatives.
Introduced by Representative Steve King (R-IA) in December before the Christmas break, it will reverse the “Feature Creep” of the BATFElchers back to where they were in the early 80’s.
I’m still looking for a US Rep who’ll write a bill that questions the need for the IRS to buy Remington 870’s for “Customer Service” reasons, but HR 4900 is a start.
Microstamping is the most serious thing we supporters of the R2KBA face, because there’s very little phase in. All of these laws, now suddenly introduced en masse in, what, eight states now, have as a requirement, the destruction of all previous ammo within a year.
This is a direct attack on the Second, make no mistake. The coordinated introduction of this killer-legislation for the Second has been done on purpose by “the Party who no longer wants to take your guns”. Right, they’ve given up on taking the guns, and now want to render them useless by killing off the large ammo supply for them. There have been proposals in some of the microstamping-introduction states to put a limit on new ammo purchases in along with the microstamping and the banning of unstamped ammo. Even if those proposals aren’t in with the original introductions, once the microstamping bills are passed they will be soon added.
The entire purpose of microstamping is ammo supply control. It has nothing to do with making it easier for the cops to solve gun crime, it’s just a way to make sure that the Second never gets used for it’s original purpose, to run a tyrannical government out of the US of A.
The anti-gunners know they are going to lose Heller, and have the Second affirmed as an individual right. They know that the ultra-restrictive possession laws of DC, NYC, Chi-town and SFO will go away because of Heller, and they know that they have to have an entirely new base from which to severely restrict the possibility of the Second ever being put to it’s ultimate use.
Microstamping is that new anti-gun vehicle.
Here’s how you fight it. Tell them that we’ll accept it without the ammo quantity restrictions, and WITH a ten-year grace period to get rid of old ammo, and WITH a safe-from-BATFE database. Or tell them that we will accept it without the ammo quantity restrictions, and with an immediate end of “old” ammo supply if the Feds ISSUE new, microstamped ammo, round for round, or if the Feds issue, at turn-in day, a tax-credit certificate good for the market price of every round of ammo turned in.
See what I’m getting at here? We can say we don’t object to bullets with numbers, just let us have as many bullets as we think we need, and we’ll be the judge of that number, thank you.
Once the anti-gunners realize that their little sham of confiscation-in-place isn’t going to fly, they will give it up entirely. Unless the SCOTUS gets happy and makes Heller into a vehicle for defining “reasonable restriction”, we aren’t gong to have an easy time defeating microstamping. The best way is the Judo way, move WITH it’s force, then put a little twist in at the end that dumps it on it’s ass.
as an avid hand-loader living abroad right now, how will this bill effect us? are they going to make it illegal to re-load our own ammunition? are they going to make it illegal for me to cast my own bullets? are they going to make it illegal for me to own/purchase lead?
that bill is more then just a little scary!
Stealth legislation is the scariest thing.
In answer to Dagamore’s questions, the answer to all is “Yes”. Interesting that this bill requires tech that does not exist, so what about cops and military ammo in state? Since this is a bill that would disarm the entire state by stopping possession of ammo would the cops be excempt? As they (police departments not individual cops)are in CA for purchase of “non legal” non approved guns? More likely the departments would just purchase the $5 per round ammo and stop all training…