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Elmer Anderson Calkins Newspapers The controversy rages. It's over the KTW bullet, the armor piercing bullet. The more vociferous anti-gun proponents prefer to call it the cop killer Some have called it the Teflon bullet Nothing is supposed to flick on. teflon. But there’s plenty of rhetoric and legislative chicanery clinging to the KTW bullet issue The Idea way to control the manu facture and distribution of armor-piercing ammo without adversely affecting legitimate gun owners and hunters Such legislation wes introduced in Congress last June. It was sup ported by the National Rifle Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Fraternal Order of Police and the National Sheriff's Association. It was named the Thurmond-Brooka bus. It was acclaimed by the Nation al Rifle Association, whose Institute for Legislative Action Executive director Warren Cassidy said, “This legislation is a positive step for all concerned. Unlike earlier legislation, the bill's definitions have been care fully crafted so they will not adversely affect law-abiding gun owners and hunters. ' ‘The earlier legislation referred to was the Biaggi-Moynihan bill, which would have outlawed many sporting bullets pallistics and legal experts from the Justice and Treasury Departments, along with the NRA, consistently Oppocca the Biaggi-Mohnihan bill as unworkable and legally unenforceable. The Thurmond-Brooks bill made sense and even Moynihan Signed on as a co-sponsor The revised definition of ‘‘armor piercing bullet would regulate the manufacture and importaton of bullets based on their physical composition Specifically, 8 defined as “solid projectiles or projectile cores constructed from tungaten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, berillium copper or depleted uranium ’’ This defini tion excludes from regulation shotgun shot or any ammo primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes. Looking good, right? Wrong. In early August the House Subcommittee on Crime violated the old philosophy of “LE it ain't broke, don’t fix It By 8 voice vote the committee approved a measure substantial ly more restrictive than the bill which was by then referred to as Reagan Administration legisla tion.” The revised bill is now headed for the full Honge Judiciary Committee where it will be subject to debate. The new measure would give the secretary of the U.S Treasury Department total dis cretion to determines which bullets would be classified as armor-piercing Here we go again. Did you catch the magic Words? Total dis cretion The original legislation hammered out by the administra tion with the assistance of police groups and the NRA was consid ered workable and enforceable. Most hunters and gun owners must feel as I do. The bull was OK. And total discretion being granted to any government agency unlaces my boots. Thank you, but I'd rather keep the key to my gun cabinet The original definition of the armor piercing ammo remains in the proposal However, the com mittee expanded the definition to allow the Treasury secretary to outlaw “Any ammunition ... of substantially similar composal Har According to legal and beltis tics experts, such a definition effectively could lead to bans on virtually all ammunition Warren Cassidy of the NRA declared, “This definition would give the Treasury secretary unfettered discretion to decide what is and what is not armor piercing ammunition based on whatever criteria the secretary may choose Not only is this defi nition legally unenforceable it's totally absurd ‘* Under the amended ball, licen ses ammo manufacturers and im porters also would be required to supply the secretary with bullet samples. It implies that such bullets would be tested to deter mine their armor-piercing capa bility. But no specific test procedures outlined in the bill. With the amended bill, any licensed dealer who sell a Ammultition classified as armor piercing could have his license revoked other than liste of armor-piercing bullets published in the Federal Register nothing so specified as to how dealers would be expected to learn what ammo has been restricted. The new provision also allows the Treasury secretary to buy from licensed dealers or mem bers of the general public any ammo classified as armor pierc ing. And who decides how much we are reimbursed if our 270's, 30-08's and 300's are declared to be armor-piercing. Why, the Treasury secretary, of course Elmer Anderson, writes an outdoor column for the Beaver County Times, a sister paper of the Intelli gencer Record
Newspaper Details
Doylestown Intelligencer
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, US
Sun, Sep 02, 1984
Page 168
Full Page
Clipped by
Matthew C.
USA 16 Jun 2026
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