Letters to SAR: October 1999

By Dan Shea

Dear SAR,

Just in case anyone was wondering what the “opposition” is doing, they’re very busy. On Aug. 5th we had two new bills introduced into congress. One on the House side (by Mr. Blagojevich) and one on the Senate side by Mr. Durbin(D-IL). Both bills are titled “Military Armor Piercing Ammunition Resale Act of 1999”. The purpose of both bills is to add a restriction into Chapter 443 of Title 10, United States Code by adding the following to the end.

Sec. 4688. Armor piercing ammunition and components: conditions on disposal.

(a) Limitation on resale or other transfer. Whenever the Sec. of the Army carries out a disposal (by sale or otherwise) of armor piercing ammunition, the Secretary shall require as a condition of the disposal that the recipient agree in writing not to sell or otherwise transfer any of the ammunition (reconditioned or otherwise), or any component of that ammunition, to any purchaser in the United States other than a law enforcement or other government agency.

House Version Only:

(b) EXCEPTION- subsection (a) does not apply to a transfer of a component of small arms armor piercing ammunition solely for the purpose of metal reclamation using a destructive process such as melting, crushing or shredding.

Both of the bills are identical (except for the exception in the House version) and are supported in the Senate by Senators Schumer (D-NY), Levin (D-MI) and Moynihan (D-NY). In the House they are supported by Just Blagojevich at its introduction.

As you will notice this doesn’t just single out .50 cal. These bills are aimed at all centerfire bullets. Those identified were AP, API, & APIT.

These bills have been described as “serious trouble”, because they effectively only impact people who are shooters. The Talon Manufacturing Co. no longer is impacted here, as they can still buy the old ammo from the military and sell it as scrap. Both bills have been referred to the Armed Services Committee.

Keith Pagel
Staff Columnist, Very High Power Magazine
Fifty Caliber Shooter’s Assn.

Thanks for the information on this. SAR’s readers should be aware of the impact this will have. The desired effect from the point of view of the anti-Second Amendment activists. Calls to congressmen, even personal visits if you are in DC, would be very appropriate. Speak nicely, and ask them to defeat these bills. Those interested in more information on the Fifty Caliber Shooter’s Association may contact them at:

The Fifty Caliber Shooter’s Association
PO Bx 5109
Riverside, CA 92517
909-653-5447 (9-4 PST M-F)
website: http://www.fcsa.org

SAR Volume 3 Number 1!

A little over two years ago, in a frantic crazed set of circumstances, a group of investors had a conversation with a group of writers. A deal was struck. Deborah designed the company, we hammered out the concept, and a group of writers came up with a set of ideas that was filtered through my somewhat overtaxed neural connections. I was nailed to the back of a camera, and hooked up to a data input device for proofing. Jeff was chained to a scanner, and intravenously tied to Pagemaker. The new readers were asked for input. Everyone involved had too much to do. Not complaining- just remembering.

We are always trying to listen to you, the readers. You are looking at the result. You complained about those dauntless Postal Workers being suspected of perusing your issues, thereby stealing the wedding night virginity of your SAR. You asked for polybagging, we found a way. We are bigger and better than ever. In this issue, SAR adds eight more pages. We found a way to do it without costing you “More Money” ™.

It is the hope of all of us at SAR that we can continue to get better and better with every issue, and once a year that we can bring something extra special to you. The extra pages are permanent. Well, hopefully they are. We want to bring you more than that, but we have a business plan to keep to, in order to ensure that SAR is around for a long, long time.

You are essential to our existence as a magazine. While we may not be able to answer every letter that is sent in to us, or acknowledge every suggestion, we do have a system. There are about 75 writers who have our guidelines, and included with that is a three page list of ideas that the readers have sent in – hoping to see them appear as articles some day.

Happy Birthday SAR, and thanks to all of those who have worked so hard to make this dream a reality. The SAR office is outstanding, I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with. Now all we have to do is keep making SAR better. With your help and input, I know that we can do that. Thanks!

– Dan Shea