Ammunition

A manufacturer stung by criticism of what he claims is a devastating new armor-piercing bullet, delayed its production Wednesday as firearms experts questioned whether the ammunition could perform as described. David A. Keen said his decision was in response to law enforcement fears that potent Black Rhino rounds would fall into the hands of criminals. He said work would go ahead on .

A bill before the California Assembly would outlaw the use of lead ammunition by hunters. There is already a federal prohibition on its use in hunting waterfowl, and in 2007 the state banned it in the range of the endangered California condor. AB 711, written by Assemblymen Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) and Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), would take these restrictions a step further in an effort to safeguard animals as well as the environment. Lead pellets in shotgun shells, typically used to shoot birds, spray across land and water.

The mental processes of Mayor Tom Bradley and some members of the Los Angeles City Council never cease to amaze me. By the simple expedience of banning the sales of ammunition during the weeks preceding New Year's Eve and July Fourth, (they think) the irresponsible acts of discharging firearms skyward in celebration of these holidays will miraculously cease. The politicians seem to forget that irresponsible acts are generaly committed by irresponsible persons. However, irresponsibility does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with stupidity.

Lawmakers in Connecticut, the site of the Dec. 14 massacre that renewed a national debate over gun control, passed a bipartisan measure that increases background checks for buyers and bans the sale of semiautomatic rifles like the one used in Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Senate passed the bill 26-10 yesterday, and the House of Representatives approved it 105-44 in Hartford. The legislature is controlled by Democrats, and Democratic Governor Dan Malloy, 57, has said he will sign the measure.

The state Fish and Game Commission has expanded its ban on the use of lead ammunition in hunting grounds that also are home to California condors. Earlier this year, the state Legislature outlawed most lead ammunition in hunting rifles, saying that rare California condors suffer lead poisoning when they eat animal carcasses left behind by hunters. Friday's 3-1 vote by game commissioners goes further, however, and prohibits the use of lead in firearms that are .22 caliber or smaller.

The NATO-led peace force started blowing up ammunition from a Bosnian Serb depot, despite repeated threats from the Bosnian Serb military. The blasting began after a two-hour delay caused by concerns that underground blasting could damage water supplies and by the sudden appearance near the blast site of a shepherd looking for lost sheep. Fifteen to 30 tons of ordnance were buried in three pits and then blown up, Canadian army Maj. Brett Boudreau said in Sarajevo, the capital.

The Pentagon has overstated the ammunition needs of the armed services by one-fifth, and its appropriations request should be cut by at least $1.2 billion, the General Accounting Office told Congress. The GAO told the Appropriations committees of the Senate and House that the Army's ammunition request is overstated by $580.2 million, the Navy's by $139.4 million, the Air Force's by $297 million and that of the Marine Corps by $75.5 million. In addition, it said, the Army's $368.

Regarding the story "Azusa Tentatively OKs Laws Controlling Ammunition" (March 5), I would like to congratulate Mayor Stephen Alexander and the rest of the Azusa City Council for having the courage and integrity to ignore the collective plea of the citizens of Azusa and forge ahead with their plan to register ammunition sales. I can't think of another issue that would work as well on Election Day to bring out the pro-gun vote. I will remind the council that a similar law was part of the 1968 Gun Control Act but was thrown out in 1986 after tracking 32-billion rounds over 18 years because not one crime was ever solved with all of that data.

A proposed ban on the sale of ammunition in unincorporated territory the week before New Year's Eve and July 4 was rejected Tuesday by a 3-2 vote of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The ordinance was proposed by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and supported by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and Sheriff Sherman Block in an effort to deter holiday revelers from firing guns into the air.

Pasadena's ammunition registration ordinance has won a temporary stay because too few City Council members were present at a meeting this week to change the law. The City Charter requires that at least four of the seven council members vote on a change in city law. At a meeting Monday, Mayor Chris Holden deferred action on the ordinance because only three of five council members present favored repealing the law.

NEW YORK - There were three samurai swords, with blades 13 inches, 21 inches and 28 inches long. There were hundreds of rounds of ammunition. There were targets, a bayonet, knives, pictures of a bloodied body wrapped in plastic, and guns. Lots of guns. And there were plans to buy more. Among the items discovered by police after Adam Lanza shot dead 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a holiday card from his mother, Nancy, with a check inside for her son to buy another gun, according to search warrants made public Thursday.

Adam Lanza, the gunman who attacked a Connecticut elementary school, killing 20 children and six adults, had an arsenal of guns, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and even samurai swords, knives and a bayonet, according to search warrants released on Thursday. The warrants outlined what police found in Lanza's home and car during official searches of the Newton, Conn., home Lanza shared with his mother, who he killed before the Dec. 14 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Military officials have suspended the use of the 60-millimeter mortar rounds and ammunition similar to what was involved in an explosion that killed seven Marines and injured seven others during an exercise Monday night at the Hawthorne Army Depot in western Nevada, about 140 miles from Reno. “All High Explosive (HE) and Illumination rounds that are the same lots as those that were being fired at Hawthorne have been suspended and may not be used for training or in theater,” the Marines announced in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

Does raising the tax on firearms and ammunition make sense as a way of reducing gun violence in the United States? A lot of Democratic lawmakers seem to think so, based on the amount of legislation at both the federal and state levels to do just that. We're not sure they're right, which is why we have problems with nearly all the taxation bills on the table. But they do make some important points in principle. So-called sin taxes have their downsides, but they can have benefits. Cigarette taxes, for example, have dramatically decreased smoking, reducing healthcare costs, and aided innocent victims of second-hand tobacco smoke.

WASHINGTON - Efforts are underway in Congress and at least half a dozen states, including California, to raise taxes on firearms or ammunition to pay for programs targeting gun violence. In Congress, a group of Democrats, led by Rep. Linda T. Sanchez of Lakewood, is pushing for an additional 10% tax on handgun purchases that could generate tens of millions of dollars nationwide to fund gun buybacks, firearms safety campaigns and anti-violence programs. Legislation that would impose taxes on guns or bullets has also been introduced in Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey and Washington state.

A month after a massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, demand for ammunition is so high that Wal-Mart is limiting sales to keep supply stable. As of last week, customers nationwide will only be able to purchase three boxes a day from the mega-retailer because “supply is limited,” said spokeswoman Ashley Hardie. She declined to speculate on the reasons behind the surge in interest, but said the company is “monitoring supply issues daily and working with suppliers to ship ammunition to stores.” “We're taking care of as many customers as possible,” Hardie said.

Three Los Angeles City Council members suggested Tuesday that a proposed ban on the sale of ammunition for one week prior to New Year's Eve and the Fourth of July be expanded to as long as one month. The one-week ban, proposed last week by Mayor Tom Bradley and two council members, failed to win enough votes Tuesday for emergency passage and as a result was sent to a committee for consideration.

In the wake of protests by gun control advocates, Kmart Corp. has said that it will stop selling handgun ammunition over the next 90 days. The announcement from the discount chain with more than 2,000 stores came after recent meetings between company executives and survivors of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado. However, company spokeswoman Julie Fracker said Kmart's move was not made because of pressure from gun control groups.

The threat of regulation has been good for the gun business: "Get 'em while you can" is one of the best sales pitches there is. With bullets, it's no different. Sales for ammunition manufacturer Winchester began to increase three days before President Barack Obama was reelected in November, an executive for Winchester owner Olin Corp. said Tuesday in a conference call with analysts, and sales haven't let up. Buyers have been scrambling for bullets in the wake of the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and during the ensuing talk about increased regulation of guns and ammunition.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - James E. Holmes acted with precision as he amassed weapons and ammunition and set up his apartment with explosive booby-traps to siphon authorities from the deadly shooting rampage he planned at a suburban movie theater, the prosecution alleged Tuesday, the second day of the suspected gunman's preliminary hearing. The hearing has offered the deepest look at the prosecution's case against Holmes, 25, charged with 166 criminal counts in the July 20 rampage at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo.