Zakaz dovozu Ruske Munice v razi 5.45x39mm do U.S.
ATF Import Ban on Russian-made 7N6 5.45x39 Military Surplus Ammo
Posted by National Liberty Federation 248pc on April 12, 2014 · Flag · Add your reaction
The BATFE has spoken. 7N6 surplus ammo is now officially banned from future import.
In the official letter posted April 7th on the BATFE website, we’re told that on March 5th of 2014 the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) submitted a request for a formal evaluation of 7N6 ammo by the BATFE. This request was intended to force a ruling on the eligibility of the ammo to be imported. Apparently the Customs and Border Protection Agency has nothing better to do with its time than working to ban the import of affordable practice ammo… but I digress.
The Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968 was amended in 1986 to ban “armor piercing ammo” for handguns. Here are the applicable sections.
“(i) a projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
(ii) a full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile.” (emphasis added)
7N6 was not an issue as long as the BATFE didn’t catch wind of a 5.45×39 handgun on the U.S. market. Until one did appear, 7N6 surplus could flow freely from Russia, Ukraine and other sources. However, it would only be a matter of time before someone got the bright idea to produce a 5.45×39 pistol domestically or someone applied for a Form 6 to import one.
The elusive 5.45×39 Polish Onyks rifle, of which only 200 were produced.
The Special Advisory letter claims that in 2011 a Polish made 5.45×39 Onyks 89S pistol was submitted for import approval by an unspecified entity. This seems a bit fishy to me since it rarely takes the BATFE almost 2 years to ban something once they have cause. It’s also worth mentioning that several companies such as Robinson Armament and JBI Armory have produced 5.45×39 handguns domestically for several years and we didn’t hear so much as a peep out of the BATFE until 2014.
The import request that the BATFE claims prompted their action was for a “Fabryka Bronie Radom, Model Onyks 89S”. Try finding something on Google about this firearm. If your Google-Fu is roughly as powerful as mine, all you will find is a reference to an obscure Polish military select fire rifle. It’s so obscure in fact that only 200 were produced in Poland and to my knowledge none were ever imported nor sold on the U.S. market as semi-automatic pistols. It’s possible I’ve missed something in my research so I welcome my readers to point me in the right direction if you know where I may find this elusive creature here in the U.S.
So let’s recap what we know so far. We have a government agency (CBP) making a request for the reclassification of 7N6 for some unknown reason, and a vaporware imported Polish pistol that no can seem to find on the U.S. market to blame for this ATF ruling. Yeah, that’s not suspicious in anyway what-so-ever.
Affordable surplus ammo is all but gone from the U.S. market these days. 7N6 and 7.62x54R were about the only game in town if you wanted cheap plinking centerfire rifle ammo. Now that 7N6 is banned from future import, all we have left is 7.62x54R. Sadly, companies like Black Horse Arsenal are offering 54R pistols for sale which, if the BATFE catches wind of, could force an import ban on our last source of affordable centerfire fun.
Ideally we would be able to repeal these asinine laws and restore the flow of affordable ammo. The only way that will happen is if we, as a community, stand-up and make our voices heard. Pounding out angry posts on discussion forums isn’t going to get it done. Lighting up your representatives phone lines and inboxes will. Leaning on the NRA, GOA, NAGR and other gun rights groups to file lawsuits would be another good place to start.
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