Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita this week led several states in defending Second Amendment liberties against efforts to restrict civilian access to legally manufactured ammunition.
Rokita
“The right to keep and bear arms is foundational to protecting all the rest of our liberties from the long arm of government overreach,” AG Rokita said. “Regular law-abiding Hoosiers know that our office will fight to defend this right to our last breath.”
On Jan. 9, 2024, Democratic attorneys general sent a letter to the White House demanding an “investigation” into a specific ammunition manufacturer – Lake City Army Ammunition Plant – in order “to ensure that military-grade and military-subsidized ammunition stays out of civilian hands.”
If the U.S. military using ammunition precluded that ammunition’s use by civilians, however, then other widely and commonly available ammunition – including 9mm and 12-gauge shotshells – would also be prohibited for public use.
“A tyrant’s tactic is to chip away at liberties little by little,” Rokita said. “Americans cannot exercise their constitutionally protected right to use their firearms without access to ammunition. That’s why we’re taking a strong stand.”
In their own letter to the White House, Rokita and several joining states pledged “to take any and every action necessary to defend our citizens’ Second Amendment rights.”
Rokita said perpetrators of gun violence should be punished – not the firearm and ammunition manufacturers.
“The anti-gun radicals leading this effort are not interested in public safety,” Rokita said. “We should be focused on the free flow of illegal weapons coming across our border – not taking aim at law abiding patriots. The federal government’s failure to secure our border and protect Americans is exactly why citizens need the liberty to defend themselves.”
According to Rokita, there is an additional and important benefit to protecting civilian access to this company’s products. By keeping this military contractor and its 1,700 workers operating at maximum capacity, the civilian law-abiding gun owners who buy Lake City ammunition are subsidizing national defense and military readiness.
“The geopolitical threats to America’s national security have never been greater,” Rokita said. “Rather than penalize the law-abiding civilian gun owners doing business with military contractors, we should give them medals.”