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The physical damage inflicted by any particular gunshot is the result of a combination of the firearm used and the ammunition fired. Sometimes, bullets travel through a body like a knife, propelled on a linear path, slicing through tissue and organs. In other cases, the bullet’s path is less predictable. It fragments in the body, ripping apart tissue and blood vessels, smashing bone, and shredding organs along its path.¹ The human cost of America’s gun violence epidemic is visible not just in the overwhelming number of firearm fatalities but also in the radically altered lives of shooting survivors. The devastation of a bullet wound to a human body is often irreparable: Spinal injury leaves survivors paralyzed; blood loss and infections can require amputations; intestinal perforations often result in survivors needing colostomy bags to replace their damaged gastrointestinal tracks. Many gunshot survivors are plagued with a lifetime of chronic pain and suffer premature death from ongoing complications.²

The current national debate about gun violence is largely focused on firearms: Who should have them? What types of firearms should people be allowed to have? Where and how can they be carried? How should they be sold? Certainly, these are all crucial questions that demand a sustained and serious analysis by policymakers at all levels of government. But often missing from the conversation about firearms are questions related to ammunition—namely, the role of easy access to ammunition and ammunition accessories in the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.

There have been previous efforts to increase federal regulation of ammunition, most notably actions in the mid-1990s led by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). Moynihan argued during a speech on the Senate floor that the problem of gun violence would not be solved by only focusing on firearms, noting that “guns don’t kill people; bullets do.”³ A few senators at the time introduced legislation to increase taxes on ammunition, with Moynihan offering the most aggressive proposal to increase the tax on the infamous Black Talon ammunition—a type of hollow point bullet that exposes claws meant to rip and tear to cause maximum damage when fired into flesh—to 10,000 percent of the wholesale price, an exponential increase from the existing 10 percent tax.⁴ None of the proposals to increase taxes on ammunition ultimately passed, and the conversation about ammunition control largely receded from national attention.

Recent events, however, have helped to spur new debates about ammunition regulation. Many of the mass shootings in recent years have involved individuals who amassed a substantial stockpile of ammunition prior to committing their horrific crimes without drawing concern from vendors or law enforcement. The shooter who committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas in October 2017 had more than 6,000 rounds with him at the hotel and in his car.⁵ The shooter at the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in July 2012 purchased nearly 6,000 rounds of ammunition—all over the internet, without ever having to step foot in a brick-and-mortar gun store—leading up to the shooting.⁶ The shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, had more than 1,700 rounds of ammunition at his house,⁷ while the shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, had more than 300 rounds.⁸ All of these perpetrators used high-capacity ammunition magazines during their attacks.⁹

Disturbing anecdotes of easy access to high quantities of ammunition and ammunition stockpiling can also be found in less high-profile cases from communities around the country. In 2019, a self-identified white nationalist and officer in the U.S. Coast Guard was arrested in Maryland after law enforcement officers found a stockpile of 15 firearms and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition as well as a “hit list” of journalists and prominent members of the Democratic Party.¹⁰ In 2019, police in Ohio arrested an 18-year-old for posting threats online about shooting law enforcement officers; a search of the teenager’s bedroom revealed 10,000 rounds of ammunition and 25 firearms.¹¹ In 2018, a man who was arrested for shooting a city worker in San Diego was found to have stockpiled approximately 75,000 rounds of ammunition.¹² In 2018, a high school foreign exchange student in Philadelphia was found with a cache of 1,600 rounds of ammunition in his room at his host family’s house after threatening to commit a school shooting.¹³ In Bismarck, North Dakota, in 2015, a man who was prohibited from gun and ammunition possession because of a domestic violence-related assault was found with guns and more than 500 rounds of ammunition.¹⁴ In Ocala, Florida, in 2015, an individual prohibited from gun possession was found with 138 firearms and more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition.¹⁵

The current lax regulations on ammunition leave all American communities vulnerable to gun violence.

A crucial component of a comprehensive vision for reducing gun violence in the United States is robust regulation of ammunition. This report discusses the gaps in the current law regarding commerce in ammunition and the easy availability of uniquely dangerous types of ammunition and high-capacity magazines to civilians in the United States. It then offers a series of policy solutions to address these gaps, including:

• Require background checks for ammunition sales
• Require ammunition vendors to become licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and report bulk ammunition purchases
• Increase oversight of online ammunition sales
• Fully implement the ban on armor-piercing ammunition
• Ban high-capacity magazines and .50-caliber ammunition
• Increase excise taxes on ammunition to support gun violence prevention efforts
• Ban the use of lead ammunition on federal conservation lands

It is virtually impossible to ascertain the scope of the domestic ammunition market in the United States. No government agency releases any data on the manufacture, importation, or sale of ammunition in this country.¹⁶ In 2012, Oxfam International estimated that the global trade in ammunition for small arms and light weapons was $4.3 billion per year.¹⁷ Estimates suggest that Americans buy 10 to 12 billion ammunition cartridges annually, including the ammunition purchased by military and law enforcement.¹⁸ In December 2016, CNN reported that ammunition imports into the United States had risen by more than 200 percent compared with the previous year, estimating that a total of 17,850 tons of ammunition had been imported over the one-year period specifically for civilian use.¹⁹

In many respects, federal law treats the possession, sale, and transfer of ammunition in the same way as firearms. Most significantly, individuals who are prohibited from buying and possessing guns under the Gun Control Act for reasons such as felony convictions, domestic violence-related misdemeanor convictions, or being subject to a restraining order are similarly prohibited from buying and possessing ammunition. It is also illegal for someone to sell or give firearms or ammunition to a prohibited person.²⁰ Most federal age restrictions on the sale and possession of firearms also apply to ammunition: Individuals must be at least 18 years old to possess handguns and ammunition that is suitable only for use in handguns and must be at least 21 years old to buy this type of gun and ammunition from a licensed gun dealer. Individuals must be at least 18 years old to buy long guns—rifles and shotguns—and ammunition for long guns from a licensed gun dealer.²¹

However, there are far fewer restrictions on domestic commerce in ammunition, due in large part to the passage of the Firearm Owners Protection Act in 1986, one of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) signature federal legislative accomplishments.²² This law, in part, eliminated the requirement that businesses seeking to sell ammunition obtain a license from ATF or retain any records related to ammunition sales. As a result, under current law, while individuals who are “engaged in the business”²³ of selling firearms must obtain a federal firearms license from ATF and are therefore subject to regulatory oversight by the agency, no such requirement exists for individuals and businesses that sell ammunition in any quantity or frequency.²⁴ This means that individuals can legally operate a substantial business selling ammunition without any oversight or scrutiny by the federal government or any requirement to keep records about these sales.

In addition, while federal law requires licensed gun dealers to conduct a background check prior to every gun sale to ensure that prospective purchasers are eligible to receive a firearm, this requirement does not apply to sales of ammunition.²⁵ This means that while dealers cannot sell ammunition to an individual “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe” that the person is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition, there is no affirmative obligation to take any steps to verify their eligibility. Furthermore, there is no corollary responsibility for licensed gun dealers to keep records of ammunition sales in the same way they are required to keep records of firearm sales. As a result, under federal law, every ammunition sale in the United States can proceed without a background check and without any records kept, regardless of the type or quantity of ammunition purchased.

There is also no obligation for gun dealers to alert law enforcement when an individual appears to be stockpiling large quantities of ammunition. While all dealers are required to notify ATF when an individual buys two or more handguns—or semi-automatic rifles in four Southwest border states²⁶—in a five-business-day period, there is no similar reporting obligation for sales of ammunition in any quantity. This means that an individual who is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition can amass a substantial amount of ammunition without ever drawing the attention of law enforcement.

Bulk ammunition sales are made even easier by another gap in federal law that allows individuals to buy and sell ammunition across state lines without restrictions. Under federal law, individuals can only buy a handgun from an out-of-state seller if it is first shipped to an in-state dealer; individuals can buy long guns from an out-of-state seller if the parties meet in person to complete the transaction or if the sale is facilitated by a gun dealer in either state.²⁷ None of these restrictions apply to ammunition sales, meaning that an individual can buy any quantity of ammunition online from an out-of-state vendor, without undergoing a background check, and have it shipped directly to their home. Following the mass shooting at an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in July 2012 perpetrated by an individual who purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition from an online seller,²⁸ The Guardian published an investigation highlighting precisely how easy it is to buy an enormous stockpile of ammunition online. Reporters demonstrated that they would be able to purchase 18,000 .223-caliber rounds, suitable for use with an AR-15-style assault rifle, from one website and an additional 41,000 rounds from another.²⁹

Additionally, there are no federal requirements regarding how large quantities of ammunition must be stored to prevent fire or explosion. When ammunition interacts with fire, the heat from the flames causes the cartridges to explode. In these instances, the risk of injury is great both to those near the site of the fire and to firefighters seeking to stop the flames from spreading. The dangers of ammunition stockpiles exploding during fires is real, with numerous instances of these explosions occurring each year.³⁰ When an Arizona home caught fire in February 2016, hundreds of rounds of ammunition exploded, and a firefighter was struck in the face with a round, saved from injury only because of his equipment.³¹ In March 2012, a mobile home in Apache Junction, Arizona, caught fire, with two adults and two children dying from asphyxiation. Reporting indicates that the fire originated in a room where reloading ammunition powder was stored and that ammunition rounds were exploding while firefighters were attempting to extinguish the flames; reporting also indicates that the bullet fire prevented bystanders from helping the victims get out of the house.³² According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, only one state, Washington, currently has a law addressing ammunition storage that focuses on the fire safety risks associated with ammunition.³³

Federal law also does not impose age restrictions on the possession of long gun ammunition. While individuals under the age of 18 are not permitted to possess handgun ammunition, there is no similar age limitation on the possession of long gun ammunition, including ammunition for semi-automatic assault rifles. Additionally, while licensed gun dealers may not sell long gun ammunition to individuals under age 18, there is no similar restriction on private sellers, meaning that individuals who are not licensed dealers are free to sell any quantity of long gun ammunition to any individual of any age.³⁴

Since 1919, sales of both firearms and ammunition have been subject to an excise tax³⁵ collected by the manufacturer or importer based on the domestic wholesale price.³⁶ The current tax on handguns was established in 1955 and is 10 percent of the wholesale price, while the tax on long guns and ammunition was set in 1941 as 11 percent of the wholesale price.³⁷ The revenue generated from these taxes on firearms and ammunition—$624.8 million in fiscal year 2018—is allocated to the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Fund, also known as the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund, which is dedicated to specific wildlife restoration projects and hunter safety and education efforts.³⁸ Currently, there is no excise tax on firearms or ammunition that is intended to raise revenue for gun violence prevention or abatement efforts.³⁹

Compounding concerns about public safety, ammunition is excluded from the items under the oversight and regulation of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as a result of legislation enacted in 1976.⁴⁰.” Items in 26 U.S.C. § 4181 include pistols, revolvers, firearms, shells, and cartridges.] The general lack of oversight on the production of ammunition has resulted in injuries and death for both users and producers of ammunition.⁴¹ To fill the federal oversight gap, gun owners must rely on communicating with each other on the dangers and best practices for purchasing ammunition. Online forums provide information about different voluntary recalls of ammunition and best practices for buying ammunition at gun shows.⁴²

Another large part of the ammunition industry that currently evades any formal regulation or oversight is the practice of making ammunition at home. Some gun owners choose to make their own ammunition as a hobby, rather than purchase ready-made ammunition from stores, as a means to create an ideal form of ammunition for their guns or in an effort to save money.⁴³ This process—known as reloading or handloading ammunition—is fairly simple, with the internet’s gun-enthusiast community providing resources on the process as well as advising where to purchase the different components and tools needed to make ammunition. While some people create ammunition solely for their own personal use, others sell reloaded ammunition in private transactions or at gun shows.⁴⁴ There are currently no federal systems for regulation or oversight of the homemade ammunition industry, meaning that there is no existing mechanism to determine how many people participate in the practice of making their own ammunition; how much is sold on the commercial market; or how much reloaded ammunition exists within the United States. Moreover, there are no systems in place for inspection of homemade ammunition to ensure it is properly reloaded and will not cause injury to the user.

When it comes to the sale and possession of ammunition, a few states have acted to fill some of the regulatory gaps in federal law. According to an analysis of state laws by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, California and New York are the only two states that require background checks for ammunition sales.⁴⁵ Another four states require individuals to obtain some type of license or permit before purchasing ammunition, the application for which requires a background check.⁴⁶ Seven states and Washington, D.C., require individuals who wish to sell ammunition to obtain a license from a state or local agency.⁴⁷ California recently enacted a state law restricting internet sales of ammunition and requiring individuals purchasing ammunition online to pick their orders up in person from a licensed gun dealer.⁴⁸ In addition, a few municipal governments have enacted local excise taxes on ammunition to help raise revenue for violence prevention efforts or public safety efforts, including Seattle⁴⁹ and Cook County, Illinois.⁵⁰ Maryland regulates the practice of reloading by requiring a license to load or reload small-arms ammunition and by requiring a license for the possession of more than 5 pounds of either smokeless powder or black powder used for reloading ammunition cartridges.⁵¹

Uniquely dangerous ammunition and ammunition accessories

The purpose of any type of bullet is to penetrate the intended target and cause some degree of damage or injury. However, just as there are multiple types and calibers of firearms, there is also a wide variety of types of ammunition that vary in their wounding and lethality potential. The industry continues to advance ammunition design to include new features or increase the so-called stopping power of the bullet. As the ammunition industry has continued to evolve and innovate, policymakers largely have failed to keep pace and update laws and regulations to ensure that appropriate restrictions are put in place for ammunition that poses increased risks to community safety.

Armor-piercing ammunition

Congress has determined that there is one type of ammunition that poses a heightened risk to public safety and warrants additional regulation: armor-piercing ammunition. The dangers of bullets capable of penetrating soft body armor—commonly referred to as bulletproof vests—were repeatedly raised by law enforcement organizations in the late 1970s and early 1980s.⁵² Legislative proposals to ban this specific type of ammunition gained traction following the mass shooting at the San Ysidro McDonald’s in San Diego on July 18, 1984, which was the worst mass shooting at that time in modern U.S. history.⁵³ A gunman armed with multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, including armor-piercing bullets, opened fire in the restaurant, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others.⁵⁴ Legislation to ban the commercial sale and possession of armor-piercing bullets was championed by then-Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-NY) and then-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), with Biaggi noting, “the lives of the police officers on the scene (in San Ysidro) [sic] were in far greater danger than they would have been if [the shooter] had used conventional ammunition.”⁵⁵ The Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1986 (LEOPA) passed despite strong opposition from the NRA.⁵⁶ On August 28, 1986, during the signing ceremony, then-President Ronald Reagan stated, “Certain forms of ammunition have no legitimate sporting, recreational or self-defense use and thus should be prohibited.”⁵⁷

LEOPA dramatically restricted the manufacture, importation, and sale of this type of ammunition, largely banning it with few exceptions.⁵⁸ For ammunition to fall within the statutory definition of armor piercing, it must be (1) capable of being fired from a handgun and be constructed entirely from certain specified metals—tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or (2) larger than .22 caliber, “designed and intended” to be used in a handgun, and have a jacket that weighs more than 25 percent of the total weight of the round.⁵⁹ This law specifically exempts from the definition of armor-piercing ammunition “a projectile which the Attorney General finds is primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes.”⁶⁰

The authority to determine whether a particular type of ammunition meets the statutory definition of armor piercing has been delegated to ATF. For the first two decades that LEOPA was in effect, ATF received relatively few requests from the gun industry to consider whether a specific type of ammunition was exempt from the armor-piercing ammunition ban under the sporting purposes exemption.⁶¹ However, in the mid-2000s, the agency began receiving higher numbers of exemption requests due to increased restrictions on lead-based ammunition in many states and the increased availability of semi-automatic handguns capable of firing rifle ammunition.⁶² In early 2015, as a result of this increase in exemption requests, ATF drafted a proposed framework for how the agency would decide whether a particular type of ammunition met the sporting purpose exemption. Under this proposed framework, rifle ammunition would presumptively qualify for the exemption if the only type of handgun that it could be fired from were a single-shot handgun. Any rifle ammunition that could be fired from a revolver or semi-automatic handgun would not receive the benefit of this presumption and would be banned.⁶³ The draft framework document then explained that certain specific types of ammunition that had previously qualified for the sporting purpose exemption—specifically a very popular type of rifle ammunition known as green-tip ammunition—would no longer meet the requirements for the exemption and would be banned because they were capable of being fired from certain semi-automatic handguns.⁶⁴ Upon publishing the draft framework, ATF opened up a comment period to receive feedback from stakeholders.