Who Supports Ammo Serialization Laws?

Why the owner of the company that would profit from the mandates of course. 

Hmmm.  Ammo Coding Systems.  A non-IL company.  Lets take a look at some tidbits from their 'fact sheet' on how 'reasonable' this idea is:

Implementation of the ACS Technology

The implementation of the ACS technology will require legislation to establish an ammunition sale database. In those states that have already developed and implemented bar-coding systems that include driver’s licenses and other forms of identification, the integration of a database system to record ammunition sales will be relatively simple and inexpensive to implement.

So registration, more licensing, and taxes/fees. 

What are the costs to manufacturers?

There are several well known manufacturers currently producing a significant portion of the current commercially available ammunition in the United States. Each ammunition producer would be required to purchase at least one, if not more, laser engraving machines and ammunition material handlers to produce ACS coded ammunition. There are several manufacturers who can design and build this equipment. Reliable estimates for a complete set of engraving/material handling equipment range from $300,000 to $500,000 each. A licensing fee for each bullet sold would also be required. However, since approximately 10 billion bullets are sold in the United States alone each year, equipment costs, once amortized over the number of bullets produced and sold are not significant.

So the complete redesign of manufacturing facilities and millions of dollars in expenses both initial and long-term, all which will either put the company out of business or be passed onto consumers. Which they admit. There's also the bit about 'licensing fee' which can be withdrawn arbitrarily.

What is the impact on retailers and consumers?

Ammunition retailers will also have some minor administrative costs. These costs, like other costs associated with doing business will most likely be passed onto the retailer purchaser. We estimate that the entire ACS process can be implemented without dramatically increasing the purchase price to the end user while maintaining an effective crime fighting system paid for almost exclusively by user fees.

And if you like your healthcare, you can keep it.

Here's another clincher:

How many unique codes are available?

There are 91 unique characters on a standard computer keyboard. The ACS technology uses these characters in five, six, or seven columns. Typically, ammunition comes in boxes of either 50 or 20, and all bullets in a box will be coded alike. There are 12 common handgun and assault weapon calibers. This means that ACS can accommodate over 21 quadrillion unique bullet codes. Since it is estimated that there are approximately 10 billion bullets sold annually in the United States, and 20-30 billion bullets sold worldwide annually, the ACS has the capacity to keep pace with the current rate of sales for decades to come.

Kind of a giveaway as to their real goals, isn't it?  What about the 'uncommon' calibers or those not regularly made in the US?  Oh Right.

This isn't about 'safety' or 'crime', this is about making it nearly impossible for law abiding citizens to get ammo and to put the companies out of business if they try to comply.

Ancient Dread: Assault on L'Huath Cont.

 Continued

Shadowy shapes on shore during the night. Remnants of the enemy villagers no doubt. No attack by them. We seem to have cowed them for now. Strange dreams of villages and odd necklaces. We’ve decided we’ll keep moving at night so they can’t rally their forces. Rod however is reluctant to stand watch at night because she has problems seeing. During the day, a few stray arrows were clumsily lobbed towards us but nothing of any consequence. The next day they got their dander up and, after a few miscarried attempts, decided to start dropping rocks on us after we entered a ravine. Rod flew up and dispatched the ones on the right while I started on the ones on the left but not before they managed to drop a rock on the boat, killing one of our ‘young bucks’ and putting a hole in the hull.

The pathetic attack by the tribesmen was nothing compared to what we saw next… a bask of very large crocodiles. Throwing chunks of the snake meat seemed to keep their interest away from us except for a pair that decided to follow along for some easy meals. It took awhile to tack through some rapids but we succeeded. Soon after we saw the volcano which King tells us is named Wannahackaloogi. It seemed fairly quiet but the closer we approached, the warmer the air and water was along w/ a smell of sulfur in the air.

Closing to the shore, it looked like there may have been a dock in some distant past and there were stairs carved into the side. King decided to come with us but the rest of the crew chose to stay w/ the boat. Our ‘Young Bucks’ have had their first taste of death and it is ash in their mouths. We climbed the 500’ walk and discovered an entrance to what appears to be an ancient Dwarven crafted cavern. A humanoid skeleton is visible in the distance and seems to have died violently, running from some unknown threat. After a rest, we will venture in.

Illinois Bill: HB6615 Handgun Ammo Serialization

Call to Action - Oppose: HB6615 Handgun Ammo Serialize

 

Call to Action

 

Oppose: HB6615 Handgun Ammo Serialize

 

On October 17, 2016, Representative Sonya Harper filed HB6615 Crim Cd Handgun Ammo Serialize, a bill requiring ammunition components to be marked with a unique code that will be registered to the end user.

 

This bill is scheduled to be heard in committee the afternoon of November 15, 2016.

 

Since 2005 at least 31 similar bills have been filed in 18 states, none of them having been passed into law because the concept cannot be integrated into existing production lines safely or in a cost effective manner. Illinois' own legislature wisely declined to embrace its own share of these bills, most recently in 2008.

 

Though the bill does not specify the manner of marking bullets and shells, leaving those problems for others to solve, the most commonly mentioned method is via laser etching. In fact, one of the founders of the company behind this concept, Ammunition Coding Systems (ACS), mentioned laser etching as the method he envisions in a February 28, 2008 interview. Neither the sponsor nor ACS has given any obvious thought to the potentially disastrous results of introducing a laser into an environment filled with explosive ammunition primers and highly inflammable propellants.

 

Both Representative Harper and ACS seem equally unaware of the current manufacturing method of randomly mating bullet to shell casing from bulk material hoppers, a process actually illustrated by an ACS Power Point and supplied to DNAInfo.  Randomized components, of course, cannot be mated to each other in ways creating a match.

 

> HB6616 requires ISP to develop manufacturing methods and standards far outside its area of expertise. Acceptable tolerances for inevitable error, and methods of measuring such error, are left to the imagination.

 

> The bill's language inverts normal logic. Rather than offering existing technology as a solution to a problem, it assumes that the existence of certain tools defines the entirety of the solution. In reality, it establishes a mandate to create a technology for an application with no evidence that such technology actually can be created. In so doing, it establishes a "prove me wrong" precedent that should not replace our existing legislative processes.

 

> Manufacturing experts agree that the most reliable mating of matched components occurs closest to the point at which they are mated. Achieving this level of reliability requires the use of a laser dangerously close to highly inflammable smokeless powders and explosive primers.

 

> Re-manufactured ammunition, where casings are reused to reduce costs, will result in shells being coded at least twice with non-matching numbers, and possibly three or more times

 

> Mail order and internet ammunition purchases, which are specifically allowed in the FOID Act, will be all but eliminated since out of state vendors have no need to stock coded ammunition

 

> Rounds rejected through quality control will have to be replaced with rounds manually coded & assembled, and inserted by hand into each and every box missing the reject(s). Every human intervention introduces the possibility of additional error and increased costs not currently a part of the manufacturing process.

 

> The estimated $0.02 cost per box of ammunition assumes expenses are amortized over 10 billion rounds or more. Manufacturers will not serialize all ammunition, reducing the amortization factor to a fraction of that projected, resulting in prohibitively large retail price increases.

 

> Manufacturing methods developed by mandate of law and based upon ACS's patent can potentially be subject to use fees and licensing requirements. If ACS chooses to prevent ammunition sales within Illinois, it can do so by simply refusing such licenses.

 

> The bill lacks detail outlining how coding would be accomplished because Ammunition Coding Systems lacks the background to provide such detail.

 

 

File a witness in opposition now!

 

 

Log on to the ILGA Dashboard, Create a New Account, and then click on the link below to access the witness slip.  You may complete the required fields manually without creating an account:

 

I, IDENTIFICATION: Enter your personal information. Enter "NA" for the Firm/Business or Agency and Title fields unless you are officially representing an organization.

 

II. REPRESENTATION: Enter "Myself" unless representing an organization.

 

III. POSITION: Unless instructed otherwise for a particular bill leave the description field at its default value "Original Bill". Indicate your position by selecting the "Proponent" or "Opponent" radio button.

 

IV. TESTIMONY: Select the "Record of Appearance Only" radio button.

 

If filing manually, complete the Captcha challenge and agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement.

 

Then click Create Slip.

 

 

Oppose

 

HB6615 Handgun Ammo Serialize - Oppose

 

 

Witness Slips can be tracked here.

 

 

 Check out ISRA's website at www.isra.org! Tell us what you think!

 

Follow the ISRA on Twitter and Facebook.

 

@JBMPress: The Bag & Swag

So to compliment the badges that went onto my travel vest, I picked up some of the same in velcro and one of the gamer bags from JBM Press.  They arrived today w/ some personalization to make sure it got to the right person in the house. 

Inside was the bag, badges, and some bonus sticker sets (which will be parsed out on my netbook and other places.)

Surprisingly larger than I expected. Really big enough for books and/or a laptop/netbook.  plenty of internal pouches and storage space. Going to play around w/ it to see what fits best and where. 

Initial decorations:

BEST ELECTION EVAR!!!!!

Now that the circus is over, I’ll give my thoughts. Too many sensitive snowflakes on both sides that I’m friends w/ up until now.

This has been the most entertaining election that I can remember. 2000 had the Florida drama but that was just at the end and I got real tired of hearing about ‘hanging chads’ and ‘dimples’. This one though, this one couldn’t have come out more like an election drama movie if it had been scripted. I mean seriously, secret documents being released. Hacking. Sex. Indictments. Riots. Firebombings. You name it.

Last night was just as much drama. It was a real nail biter up until the end. How many of the last elections I’ve turned off early evening because enough ‘swing states’ had already decided the issue I can’t remember.But now that season of American Elections is done and we begin a new season of drama in February.

On to the candidates.

Trump: A good friend of mine put up this comment:

“Once again, the Republicans chose the one candidate who could lose to the Democrats.

They lucked out this time. Probably.”

I’m going to disagree w/ him on this. People who tend to vote republican chose this candidate who was actually able to excite a large amount of the voter base. Had it been up to the GOP establishment/elite, they would have chosen another spineless, milquetoast RINO who would only have won if the DNC managed to put up a candidate that couldn’t inspire their voters to bother to show up either. R leaners also have been frustrated w/ the GOP repeatedly backing down from challenges and forgetting their promises. That, combined w/ the constant condescending attitudes shown towards ‘flyover country’ from both the DNC and GOP, turned a lot of people out for a person seen as not part of the establishment whether real or imagined. That’s the main reason I gave him my vote, certainly not because I ‘like’ him or his ideas. A big middle finger to the GOP party heads. Unfortunately that comes to my next quote by another associate:

“Donut gets you a dollar that, win or lose, the GOP comes away from this sh!tstorm with exactly the wrong lessons.”

The GOP is known as the stupid party for a reason. They will likely grab defeat out of the jaws of victory over the next few years leading to a switch in the House and/or Senate in ’18 and ’20

Hillary: She is part of the ‘Evil’ party. I honestly think she would have done nothing but increase her power base and influence no matter who got in the way. Lots of ‘accidents’ and ‘suicides’ for those who try. Staged riots, money laundering, the whole email fiasco. This is a person who puts horse heads in beds. This was hers to lose and she done lost it. Can’t say I’m upset.


And I honestly think the DNC is going to get even nastier next time around. Those third parties had better watch out because both major parties are going to do everything they can to crush them in ’20.

I’ve seen sore winners on the GOP side and a lot of people acting like the ‘Leave Brittney Alone’ guy on the DNC side. Overall though, the sun will continue to rise and the majority of us will continue to live our lives as we do every day. Most likely the GOP w/ f@ck it up by pushing social issues they 'think' matter instead of working on the economy. . I don’t think there’s going to be a nuclear war although there will continue to be conflicts especially in the even more destabilized Middle East.

Some issues will move forward, some will slow down or stop for the time being. It will be interesting to see how Trump, who's not beholden to GOP drawstrings, will deal w/ the establishment heads. Which sides will be the foot draggers and blockers, which will start working w/ him.

I have to say though that my absolute favorite part of the whole fiasco is that EVERY professional poll, pundit, and media analyst were completely and totally dead wrong. Just goes to show what ‘polls’ really mean when you have 320m+ people as diverse as we are.

The drama is just beginning.

Kickstarter: Ogre Miniatures Set 1 @SJgames

Tanks, Infantry, Hovercraft, Artillery vs 1 Giant Cybernetic Monstrosity.  

What's more to say? 

Enough pieces to play a basic or advanced game of OGRE w/ many more likely at the speed this KS is being funded.

Dindu Nuffin/BLM vs CPD/CFD

Two Narratives:

Police and Firefighters:
Group in a car on the way from a gang funeral block a fire department driveway and attack the firefighters/police when told to move.  Dindu pulls out a gun and refuses to put it down, getting ventilated for his troubles.

Family:  Off Duty Cop cuts off car and tries to run it off the road, pointing his gun at various people in the car and shooting Dindu for no reason.

Lots of problems w/ the family's story(ies... they change a bit depending on who's talking).

He had a CCW?  He was from Indy.  IL does not recognize IN CCW so did he have one of the insanely expensive 'Non-Resident' versions?  Did he have an IN CCW and didn't know IL didn't recognize it? Is the family flat out lying?

If the first version is more accurate, why was he brandishing a firearm on a firefighter?

If the second version is more accurate, how did the firefighters get involved and get injuries?
Was Dindu dragged out of the car and shot as one person said, was he shot while pulling out his gun to defend the family member who was being threatened by the off duty, or standing w/ his hands up? Which is it? 

Of course the family immediately starts calling for the 'Ghetto Lottery'. BLM shows up, tweets from them talking about 'assassination' and 'execution' while canvassing the neighborhood for 'witnesses' (iow, showing blurry video to anyone they can find). Again, stories change depending on who they're interviewing. In one, they're sitting in a Burger King, minding their own business while being harassed, in another, they're outside w/ banners across the street from 'Blue Lives Matter' flags.

Unfortunately for them, Mt. Greenwood is also known as 'Coptown' and the BLM presence was not taken well.

The varying stories:

SSC
ABC
Tribune
DNAinfo
Fox32
NBC

UPDATE:  The various family stories about him being dragged out of his car or being shot w/ his hands up?  Not so much:



and now that the family's been caught lying, they've lawyered up and clammed up. 

Of course the other 50 shootings that took place across the city over the weekend don't matter.