# Obama restrictions on Ammo, real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289 "2009-08-13T14:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/1 "2009-08-13T14:31:27Z")
OK this in in General Questions not Great Debates. I’ve been emailing a friend of mine and she has told me about “Obama’s Restrictions on Ammo”. Basically if Obama can’t outlaw guns he is outlawing ammo. She claims… > [@](#): > > I have other issues as well that don’t include healthcare. Like for instance if I wanted to practice shooting my gun at a gun range. I can’t. Why? Because there is no ammo to purchase. Obama has or is going to shut down the ability for people to reload their own ammo. Also all of the military shells usually go to a company in Georgia to reload… now they are going to shred that metal instead of recycling. Which goes against being green too. Where the hell is all of this money coming from for other things too? I asked her about what kind of gun she owned because the military shell thing seems to cover spent US military rounds for ‘assault-rifles’. And to clear up how ammo is unavailable. > [@](#): > > I have a 38 and a 40. AND a license to carry and conceal. > > Anyway, Walmart is usually out of ammo the hour they get them shipped in the store. This is whether they are new or reloaded. What Obama is doing is making it to where if you are an individual that reloads your own shells, you will have to have a license as if you were a manufacturer. Also all ammo will have to have a serial number on every shell. And if my Mom sells me a gun, she can’t “give” me her ammo. She has to sell it to me and it has to be recorded legally to let the govt know that these shells with those serial numbers have changed hands. Most of this info may be found on the NRA website. I took a quick look and online retailers seem to have ammo in stock. Are these things real or are they proposals the Obama administration is considering or are they basically straw men that the gun lobby has invented. Since everyone is talking about health care reform this seems to be flying under the radar. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/2 "2009-08-13T14:37:36Z")
Earlier this year there was a huge run on ammo. It was impossible to find. But the reason for that is paranoid gun-nuts (which is a SUB-GROUP of gun owners, not the whole shebang) who believe that Obama is going to outlaw the stuff. It’s their own damn fault that they can’t find any ammo because it’s their fellow paranoid gun-nuts who are buying it all up to hoard it. The government doesn’t have anything to do with it…the Obama administration hasn’t even _proposed_ a new gun control law to Congress. The shortage of ammo has been entirely created by private gun owners. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/3 "2009-08-13T14:43:10Z")
I live in Montana where gun rights is a huge issue. While some people really believe that the government is trying to restrict gun use and ammo production, I think this is mainly a case of supply and demand. When Obama was elected some people thought that he would put restrictions on firearms so they went out and bought everything they could get their hands on, including ammo. That, of course, created shortages, which in turn caused people to panic and buy even more ammo, which put even more pressure on supplies. I own a shotgun and have not had a problem finding ammo for it. There is a lot of fear out there about what the government might do… but I don’t think it is based on facts. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/4 "2009-08-13T14:53:02Z")
I reload and finally received a shipment of primers last week that had been ordered in early April. 😕 A while back the local stores either had none, or were limiting customers to 200 primers. Most pistol ammunition is still scarce. I buy reloads from a company in Georgia, and they are not accepting new customers, at least last month they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/5 "2009-08-13T14:54:31Z")
While it’s obvious to everyone except the sheeple that the mainstream media is burying all anti-Obama news, I would have thought that a legal restriction on ammo in this country might have come to the attention of someone, anyone. There might even have been a pit thread on it. Or is the theory that Obama went to all the ammo manufacturers secretly and used his power of Blackness against them? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/6 "2009-08-13T15:13:56Z")
Here’s a past [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495778) from last year on the “serial number on each shell” issue. Basically, a company that manufactures equipment to put a serial number on bullets has been lobbying states to pass a law requiring it. It predates Obama, and it’s a state-by-state effort not federal, and doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of traction. I have no idea what the military does/did with used brass. I’m pretty certain they don’t reload it for their own usage - the military likes clean, new ammo in clean, new brass. Maybe they sold it to a company that reloads it for sale? I like her statement “now they are going to shred that metal instead of recycling. Which goes against being green too.” As if the shredded brass will be spread in wetlands or put in kids breakfast cereals, instead of, you know, being melted down and recycled into new brass. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/7 "2009-08-13T15:23:59Z")
Wasn’t there a shortage of ammo in the past few years due to demands from the military for its needs in Iraq and Afghanistan? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/8 "2009-08-13T15:26:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t there a shortage of ammo in the past few years due to demands from the military for its needs in Iraq and Afghanistan? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/9 "2009-08-13T15:32:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wasn’t there a shortage of ammo in the past few years due to demands from the military for its needs in Iraq and Afghanistan? That certainly drove prices up, but I don’t know if I’d call it a shortage - sometimes various online suppliers would be out of certain types of ammo for a few weeks, but I never had a problem finding what I needed at my local store until November 08. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/10 "2009-08-13T15:38:37Z")
The reason people are buying up amunition is because of the current push for the [Ammunition Accountability Act](http://www.ammunitionaccountability.org/Legislation.htm) which will drive up the cost. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/11 "2009-08-13T15:39:02Z")
OK, thanks guys. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/12 "2009-08-13T15:43:57Z")
Ask your friend to provide the exact statutes/bills/executive orders to support her claims. I have a feeling just telling her they don’t exist won’t pacify her. If she’s so certain, she should have no trouble finding the cites. These are her claims, not yours. Make her either support them or discover for herself that she can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/13 "2009-08-13T15:44:56Z")
I’ve had some problems trying to buy ammo at the local Walmart. They seem to always have 9mm, but very rarely have any other pistol ammo. When you can find .357 or .38, it’s expensive. .50/rd for .357, and about .35/rd for .38 ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/14 "2009-08-13T15:51:58Z")
A couple of weeks ago I took delivery of a Marlin 1894. It’s chambered for .44 Mag. Quite literally there was no .44 Mag ammunition in town. I did find some online at [ammunitiontogo.com](http://ammunitiontogo.com). IMHO the recent panic buying of ammo was a crazed over-reaction. Not that I trust the Obama/Holder/Pelosi trio, but at least for the moment I don’t see them ready to jump into another frey. They’ve got their hands full (fortunately) with other matters. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/15 "2009-08-13T15:53:15Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The reason people are buying up amunition is because of the current push for the [Ammunition Accountability Act](http://www.ammunitionaccountability.org/Legislation.htm) which will drive up the cost. Your link does not say what this alleged act does, nor does it appear to be a federal bill. It links to a number of proposed state bills which would require identifying markers on ammo. This appears to represent the unsuccessful state-by-state efforts commented on by **muldoonthief**. This is not something that seems to be going anywhere even on a state level, much less at a federal level, and I don’t see why it would significantly increase costs anyway. In any case, the reason that ammo is in short supply is because demand has been driven up (with the enthusiatic encouragement of the guns and ammo industry) by irrational paranoia, not because of any actual Obama policy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/16 "2009-08-13T16:28:21Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > In any case, the reason that ammo is in short supply is because demand has been driven up (with the enthusiatic encouragement of the guns and ammo industry) by irrational paranoia, not because of any actual Obama policy. And, as mentioned before by several- the USA military started buying more due to the continuation of the conflicts. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/17 "2009-08-13T16:38:56Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Your link does not say what this alleged act does, nor does it appear to be a federal bill. It links to a number of proposed state bills which would require identifying markers on ammo. This appears to represent the unsuccessful state-by-state efforts commented on by **muldoonthief**. This is not something that seems to be going anywhere even on a state level, much less at a federal level, and I don’t see why it would significantly increase costs anyway. > > In any case, the reason that ammo is in short supply is because demand has been driven up (with the enthusiatic encouragement of the guns and ammo industry) by irrational paranoia, not because of any actual Obama policy. Obama has endorsed bans on hand guns in the past and it’s just logical to assume his agenda would resurface in another form and act accordingly. edit: the current legislation is state by state so you will have to click on individual bills to read the proposals. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/18 "2009-08-13T16:48:30Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > edit: the current legislation is state by state so you will have to click on individual bills to read the proposals. Someone [did check out the proposals for each bill.](http://www.williamkwolfrum.com/2009/01/14/the-ammunition-accountability-act-e-mail-a-hoax-it-already-failed-in-2008/) > [@](#): > > Conclusion: The Ammunition Accountability Act (AAA) was introduced in 18 state legislatures in 2007 and 2008. It didn’t pass in any form nor even make it to a vote. California’s “Crime Gun Identification Act of 2007″ does not involve ammunition and is not part of the AAA. […] No AAA bills are currently pending from the list the AAA Web site provided. > > The AAA made little to no headway in 2007 or 2008, and there is no reason to believe it would in 2009, if it were to be reintroduced, which as of yet it hasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/19 "2009-08-13T17:02:24Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Obama has endorsed bans on hand guns in the past and it’s just logical to assume his agenda would resurface in another form and act accordingly. > > edit: the current legislation is state by state so you will have to click on individual bills to read the proposals. Obama has endorsed bans - even if so, I believe those bans were defeated. This is why we have checks and balances in our Govt - so that just because one person (even the President) believes it should be so, it does not follow that it will become so. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289/20 "2009-08-13T17:02:39Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > Someone [did check out the proposals for each bill.](http://www.williamkwolfrum.com/2009/01/14/the-ammunition-accountability-act-e-mail-a-hoax-it-already-failed-in-2008/) Yes, and people aren’t waiting around for a President (who is on record as wanting hand guns banned) to try this end run around the Supreme Court. It’s not a function of current Federal legislation, it’s a fear of the potential legislation from a Democratic majority Congress/Presidency. Currently there is nothing standing in the way of a majority voting block. What is so hard to understand about this? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-restrictions-on-ammo-real/506289.md?page=2)