Why Are Our Taxes Funding Mass Shootings?
QUICK READ: A single ammunition plant in Missouri is one of the world’s biggest producers of AR-15-style gun ammunition. It has sold millions of rounds that have been used in mass shootings and violent crimes. And our taxes are paying for it because this plant is owned and operated by the US Army.
CONTENTS:
BACKGROUND
The New York Times revealed stunning news last month–that a single ammunition plant in Lake City, Missouri is one of the world’s biggest producers of AR-15-style gun ammunition. Rounds manufactured there were used in a dozen mass shootings and a slew of other violent crimes.
Its easily-identified bullets were found at the Aurora, CO, movie theater mass shooting, the Parkland, FL, and Uvalde, TX, school massacres, and the Sutherland Springs, TX, church shooting. They have appeared at countless felony crime scenes and even the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Why is this stunning? Because this is no commercial operation. The Lake City ammunition plant is owned and operated by the US Army.
Although established to manufacture military supplies, the majority of the hundreds of million rounds it produces go directly to civilians on the commercial marketplace. The Pentagon has negotiated contracts with private companies, law enforcement agencies, and foreign governments for years.
As the father of a Parkland student lamented, “[t]o learn Lake City rounds…were possibly used to kill my daughter and the sale may have been subsidized by the US Government is hard to comprehend.”
We demand an immediate stop to government-subsidized mass gun violence.
ACTION One: Call the Senate.
Script for Oregon Senators
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
*SEN. WYDEN:* Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
Script for Republican Senators
D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
ACTION TWO: Call the House.
Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
Script for Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)
Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
Script for Val Hoyle (OR-04)
Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
Script for Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05)
Salem office: 503-588-9100 | DC office: 202-225-5711
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
Script for Andrea Salinas (OR-06)
Salem office: 503-385-0906 | DC office: 202-225-5643
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
It is outrageous that our own government is producing military-grade ammunition for the civilian marketplace. Congress must hold hearings and act immediately to block these largely unregulated sales, insist on background checks for buyers, and limit these bulk sales of ammunition to civilians.
FURTHER READING
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/us/army-ammunition-factory-shootings.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/us/army-ammunition-factory-shootings-congress.html
https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-us-made-gun-exports-lake-city-ammo/
