This is what I have found out about this topic. I believe this is an issue that sounds fairly good at first blush, but after better research and information, it turns out to be a very bad idea. Here are two articles about the topic and at the end a few other websites if someone is interested in looking at them. The first article is by Massad Ayoob. If you are not familiar with Mr. Ayoob, he is a police officer and an expert in self defense issues, especially regarding handgun issues. He has written many books on the subject and also writes articles for many magazines including “Guns and Ammo.” The second article is from the NRA and I imagine everyone is familiar with that organization. Hope these are helpful in providing information for you to make an informed decision.
From the website:
http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAy ... mmunition/
Massad Ayoob
THE “BLUES” SPREAD THE BLUES…AGAIN
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
When was it, exactly, that the left became the “blues” and everyone else became the “reds”? I was from that generation that grew up huddling under elementary school desks in “atomic bomb drills” and being told by teachers that Communism was evil, and now folks like me are called “Reds” ?!?!?
A new “blue” scheme currently underway (yes, founder Dave Duffy has checked it out, and assures us it is true) is the already drafted Ammunition Accountability Act. You can read about it here.
Let’s think about that. The technology to make ammunition “accountable,” – cartridge by cartridge, shell by shell, casing by casing, projectile for projectile – is largely vaporware and almost entirely unproven. It will be hugely expensive. Affordable ammunition for practice, competition, hunting and home defense will become a thing of the past.
Notice also the very early expiration date at which all previously owned “old, low-tech” ammo would become illegal to possess. One must ask, what would the law abiding citizen do with it? It could not be sold. Property lawfully purchased and responsibly owned would become contraband: there would be huge ex post facto issues here, and some serious Constitutional issues as well. And that’s before we start looking at vast collective tonnage of “hazardous materials” that some Governmental entity would be responsible for storing or destroying. Did any of the idiots who drafted this stuff even discuss the ramifications with EPA and OSHA?
If, like most rural folks, you’re a gun owner, you’ve found an old box of ammo or maybe just a single cartridge in an unexpected, forgotten place. After a certain date, if this BS becomes law, that would make you a law-breaker. Roughly half of our population – far more than half in rural areas – owns or have owned guns and ammunition, which means that if such laws come to pass, they will unnecessarily criminalize half of our citizenry.
Look this stuff up. Find out if yours is one of the states that might put you in the crosshairs of this insanity. And start writing every elected official (and appointed official, such as chiefs of police who would have to enforce this stupidity) and let them know where you stand.
This drafted legislation reaches a literally mind-boggling level of ignorance and foolishness, and if it goes unchallenged, the “blues” will have a lot of us “singing the blues.”
From the website:
http://www.nraila.org//Issues/FactSheet ... spx?ID=227
"Encoded Ammunition"/Bullet Serialization
"Encoded Ammunition" (Bullet and Cartridge Case Serialization) Means:
* Forfeiture of Currently-Owned Ammunition
* A Separate Registration for Every Box of New Ammunition
* Outrageously Expensive Ammunition Costs for Police & Private Citizens Alike
*A Waste of Taxpayer Money, Better Spent on Traditional Police Programs
In 2007, the sponsor of "encoded ammunition" legislation in Maryland urged lawmakers across the country to introduce the same kind of legislation in their states. The bill would require ammunition manufacturers to engrave a serial number on "the base of the bullet and the inside of the cartridge casing of each round" of ammunition for popular sporting caliber center-fire rifles, all center-fire pistols, all .22 rimfire rifles and pistols, and all 12 gauge shotguns.
Reasons to Strenuously Oppose This Legislation
People would be required to forfeit all personally-owned non-encoded ammunition. After a certain date, it would be illegal to possess non-encoded ammunition. Gun owners possess hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition for target shooting, hunting and personal protection. Consider that American manufacturers produce 8 billion rounds each year.
Reloading (re-using cartridge cases multiple times) would be abolished. There would be no way to correspond serial numbers on cartridge cases, and different sets and quantities of bullets.
People would be required to separately register every box of "encoded ammunition." This information would be supplied to the police. Most states do not even require registration of guns. Each box of ammunition would have a unique serial number, thus a separate registration.
Private citizens would have to maintain records, if they sold ammunition to anyone, including family members or friends.
The cost of ammunition would soar, for police and private citizens alike. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Institute estimates it would take three weeks to produce ammunition currently produced in a single day. For reason of cost, manufacturers would produce only ultra-expensive encoded ammunition, which police would have to buy, just like everyone else.
A tax of five cents a round would be imposed on private citizens, not only upon initial sale, but every time the ammunition changes hands thereafter.
Shotgun ammunition cannot be engraved. Shotgun pellets are too small to be individually engraved. Shotgun cartridge cases are made of plastic, which would be difficult to engrave.
Criminals could beat the system. A large percentage of criminals' ammunition (and guns) is stolen. Criminals could also collect ammunition cases from shooting ranges, and reload them with molten lead bullets made without serial numbers.
Congress eliminated a similar requirement in the 1980s, because there was no law enforcement benefit. Federal law had required purchasers of handgun ammunition to sign a ledger, but Congress repealed that requirement in 1983 (.22 rimfire) and 1986 (center-fire handguns), because it burdened purchasers, vendors and police, with no law enforcement benefit.
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article ... /812040369
http://www.hunttheus.com/huntingarticle ... y-act.html
http://www.nationalgunrights.org/ammoac ... lity.shtml
http://alaskapride.blogspot.com/2008/12 ... ublic.html
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=7834
