Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has taken a stand alongside a coalition of 20 attorneys general, urging the White House to clamp down on the civilian sale of military-grade ammunition, some of which has been used in recent mass shootings. In a letter, the attorneys general pressed for a thorough investigation into how such ammunition has been produced by a U.S. Army-funded contractor and entered the public market, as detailed in a release on the state's website.
AG Campbell called for immediate federal action, stating, "I’m proud to join this coalition of attorneys general committed to ensuring military-grade, taxpayer-subsidized ammunition does not end up in the hands of civilians." This coalition comes as a response to reports that Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, overseen by the U.S. Army and operated by a private contractor, has contributed billions of military-grade rounds to the civilian firearms market, which, in too many tragic instances, have been used in deadly shootings.
The coalition highlighted that ammunition from the Lake City plant has been the "ammunition of choice" in several high-profile mass shootings, including those at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The release from the Massachusetts AG's office notes that the Buffalo shooter even lauded the penetrative power of Lake City ammunition.
With over $860 million of taxpayer money invested into enhancing Lake City’s production capabilities, the attorneys general are adamant about preventing such government-subsidized ammunition from being sold to the public. They are calling on the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to issue a report with relevant findings and recommendations for keeping military ammunition out of civilian hands, and to ensure, future contracts prohibit such sales
Aside from her recent action, AG Campbell has a history of advocating for strict gun control measures. She established the Gun Violence Prevention Unit in her first year and has supported various legislative and legal efforts aimed at increasing regulation on firearms, including co-sponsoring legislation regarding silencers and supporting gun ban laws in places of worship.
AG Campbell is joined in this initiative by the attorneys general from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia, adding multi-state weight behind the push for stringent oversight of military-grade ammunition sales to the civilian populace.
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