Dear MSSA Friends,
Pasted below is the text of a letter sent on MSSA letterhead to all four members of Montana’s congressional delegation. You may wish to also contact our two Senators and two Representatives by phone, email, or mail to say you agree with MSSA’s request.
Best wishes,
Gary Marbut, President
Montana Shooting Sports Association
Author, Gun Laws of Montana
The Honorable Steve Daines
United States Senate
320 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-2602
Dear Senator Daines,
Something important to Montana and U.S. firearm owners needs your attention as the National Defense Authorization Act works through Congress. This has to do with making once-fired military cartridge brass available to individual and commercial ammunition reloaders.
Years ago a scheme was hatched to shred fired brass at military installations for direct sale to recyclers. The net proceeds of this scheme would go to an off-budget installation slush fund to build golf courses and furnish officers’ clubs. This resulted in a shortage of fired brass in standard calibers, which made ammunition generally more expensive and less available.
At MSSA’s request, Senator Max Baucus got a provision into the NDAA prohibiting the shredding of fired military brass, requiring that brass to go through the normal military disposal process where it could be purchased in usable form.
MSSA asks that you ensure that this provision remains in the NDAA, or if it is not there, that it gets restored. This prohibition should cover all small arms cartridge brass, including 9mm Parabellum (9X19mm), .45 ACP (11.43X23), .223 Remington (5.56X45mm), .277 SIG (6.8X51mm), .308 Winchester (7.62X51mm), .50 BMG (12.7X99mm), and any other expended cartridges from military use smaller than .50 BMG.
Please keep us informed about how this issue fares as the NDAA moves through Congress.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Gary Marbut
President
Cc: Governor Greg Gianforte