New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a multistate coalition of 20 attorneys general calling on the White House to investigate reports that a federally funded contractor has produced military-grade ammunition for sale to civilians. The coalition is asking the Office of Gun Violence Prevention to investigate how a facility overseen by the U.S. Army, Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (Lake City), produced billions of rounds of ammunition that were sold on the civilian market. The Office is being asked to ensure that future military production contracts prohibit the sale of military-subsidized weapons and ammunition to civilians.
“Military-grade weapons and ammunition do not belong in our homes or in our communities,” said Attorney General James. “Ammunition made at Lake City has been used to kill American civilians in devastating recent mass shootings, including the Tops Supermarket massacre in Buffalo. The continued sale of this ammunition on the private market puts everyone at risk. I’m proud to join with my fellow attorneys general to raise this important issue and help ensure that weapons of war don’t make their way onto our streets.”
Lake City is a manufacturing facility operated by a private contractor and overseen by the U.S. Army. The manufacturer is able to produce approximately 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition per year, much of it for use in AR-15-style rifles. The federal government has invested over $860 million to improve production at Lake City, meaning taxpayer funds are being used to subsidize production. Its commercial operations have sold billions of rounds onto the civilian market, and recent reporting from the New York Times has shown its products have been used in mass shootings and other crimes.
The coalition of attorneys general notes that Lake City rounds have become the “ammunition of choice” for use in mass shootings, citing shootings at Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, as recent examples where Lake City rounds were used. The Buffalo mass shooter even praised Lake City ammunition as “the best barrier penetration ammo I can get.”
The coalition is calling on the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to investigate the practices that led to military-grade rounds being sold to civilians, issue a public report with recommendations on how to keep military ammunition out of civilian hands, and take steps to ensure that future production contracts prohibit the sale of military weapons and ammunition to civilians.
Joining Attorney General James in sending the letter to the White House are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
