[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10436-S10437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. 
        Moynihan):
  S. 1532. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to restrict 
the sale or other transfer of armor piercing ammunition and components 
of armor piercing ammunition disposed of by the Army; to the Committee 
on Armed Services.


    Military Armor Piercing Ammunition Resale Limitation Act of 1999

  Mr. DURBIN.  President, under the Conventional Demilitarization 
Program, the Department of Defense sells .50 caliber ammunition that 
has been on the shelf too long and could misfire or is otherwise 
unserviceable to a private company. That company refurbishes some of 
that ammunition and sells it to civilian buyers.
  Our colleagues in the House, Representatives Rod Blagojevich and 
Henry Waxman, asked the General Accounting Office to investigate the 
availability of armor-piercing .50 caliber ammunition in the United 
States. GAO investigators found that ``U.S.-made armor piercing fifty 
caliber ammunition is readily available in the United States and that 
this widespread availability is directly attributable to the little-
known Conventional Demilitarization Program within the Department of 
Defense.''
  I want to be sure that my colleagues know what .50 caliber rifles and 
ammunition can do. They can rip through bullet-proof glass, armor-
plated limousines, tanks, helicopters, or aircraft from more than a 
mile away with deadly accuracy. They can hit targets from four miles 
away. Their shells can pierce five or six walls with no problem. That 
is just what the armor-piercing variety can do. The armor-piercing 
incendiary .50 caliber ammunition can do everything I just mentioned, 
but then can also start a fire or explode on impact. So if the sniper 
missed the person inside the limousine or tank or airplane with an 
armor piercing shell, he could instead shoot an incendiary shell and 
cause the target to catch fire or blow up.
  Nobody goes deer hunting with a .50 caliber rifle. No one shoots a 
bear with .50 caliber rifle. There would be little left of the 
hapless animal, although I suppose fragments of it could come already 
barbecued if a .50 caliber incendiary shell were used.

  What is this weapon good for? It is an appropriate and necessary 
weapon for the United States Armed Forces and has some important law 
enforcement uses. Its usefulness was demonstrated time and again in the 
Gulf War to shoot Iraqi tanks, armored vehicles, and bunkers. It is 
terrific for blowing up land mines and other small unexploded ordnance. 
The tracer variety is important for military targeting at night.
  Otherwise, it is extremely useful for assassins, terrorists, drug 
cartels, and doomsday cults. Since 1992, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco 
and Firearms has initiated 28 gun traces involving .50 caliber 
semiautomatic rifles. Many of these traces led to terrorists, outlaw 
motorcycle gangs, international and domestic drug traffickers, and 
violent criminals.
  The General Accounting Office conducted an undercover investigation 
that revealed that ammunition dealers use an ``ask no questions'' 
approach to the purchase of .50 caliber ammunition. Even after 
undercover GAO investigators made clear to ammunition dealers that they 
wanted to be sure the ammunition could pierce an armor-plated limousine 
or could shoot down a helicopter, the dealers were perfectly willing to 
sell it.
  In fact, there are fewer restrictions on the sale of .50 caliber 
weapons than on handguns. Yet a leading manufacturer of new .50 caliber 
ammunition, Arizona Ammunition, Inc., says it does not sell .50 caliber 
armor piercing, incendiary, and tracer ammunition to the general public 
``because they have no sporting application.'' That leaves

[[Page S10437]]

the U.S. Department of Defense demilitarization contract as the source 
of U.S.-made .50 caliber ammunition for the civilian market.
  Today I have introduced a bill that would require DoD contractors for 
the disposal of .50 caliber surplus military ammunition to agree not to 
sell the refurbished ammunition to civilians. The Defense Department 
must include in its contract a provision that refurbished .50 caliber 
may not be sold to non-military or law enforcement organizations or 
personnel. The Defense Department should no longer be the indirect 
source of ammunition that could be used for assassination, terrorism, 
or drug trafficking.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1532

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Military Armor Piercing 
     Ammunition Resale Limitation Act of 1999''.

     SEC. 2. RESALE OF ARMOR PIERCING AMMUNITION DISPOSED OF BY 
                   THE ARMY.

       (a) Restriction.--(1) Chapter 443 of title 10, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 4688. Armor piercing ammunition and components: 
       condition on disposal

       ``(a) Limitation on Resale or Other Transfer.--Whenever the 
     Secretary of the Army carries out a disposal (by sale or 
     otherwise) of armor piercing ammunition, or a component of 
     armor piercing ammunition, the Secretary shall require as a 
     condition of the disposal that the recipient agree in writing 
     not to sell or otherwise transfer any of the ammunition 
     (reconditioned or otherwise), or any component of that 
     ammunition, to any purchaser in the United States other than 
     a law enforcement or other governmental agency.
       ``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `armor 
     piercing ammunition' means a center-fire cartridge the 
     military designation of which includes the term `armor 
     penetrator' or `armor piercing', including a center-fire 
     cartridge designated as armor piercing incendiary (API) or 
     armor-piercing incendiary-tracer (API-T).''.
       (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter 
     is amended by adding at the end the following:

``4688. Armor piercing ammunition and components: condition on 
              disposal.''.
       (b) Applicability.--Section 4688 of title 10, United States 
     Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall apply with respect 
     to any disposal of ammunition or components referred to in 
     that section after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 ______