(CBS NEWS) As President Obama's administration mulls a proposal to ban armor-piercing "green tip" bullets, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is urging his supporters to help thwart the move, calling it a "backdoor route to imposing President Obama's gun control."
"Recently, Obama's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF) announced they will ban .223 M855 ammunition," Paul wrote in a letter posted to the website of his political action committee, RANDPAC. "The BATF has a March 17th deadline to hear public comments on this outrageous assault on the Second Amendment. And I'm counting on your immediate action to help RANDPAC flood the agency with a message from America's pro-gun majority."
The bullets in question were exempted from BATF's restrictions on armor-piercing bullets in 1986 under a determination that they were "primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes." Because the bullet can be used in a number of newer handguns, though, BATF announced last month that it would move to withdraw the exemption.
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