Kentucky Attorney General: Gun Control Advocates are Firing Blanks

Democratic colleagues are truly concerned about crime, they should focus more on prosecuting criminals than coming after law-abiding Americans

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 31, 2024) – Attorney General Russell Coleman called on President Biden to stand for Kentuckians’ Second Amendment rights by rejecting a heavy-handed federal investigation into the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri. In a letter to the President, General Coleman and 26 other Republican attorneys general wrote that an ideologically driven investigation would infringe on Americans’ fundamental rights while also undermining military readiness.

The Republican attorneys general are responding to a letter their Democratic colleagues sent to the White House that they say, “contains a litany of errors.” 

“Opponents of the Second Amendment will stop at nothing to keep Americans from exercising our right to keep and bear arms. Now, they’re pushing outright lies about a major American manufacturing employer and a key feature of our national security,” said General Coleman. “As Attorney General and a lifetime member of the NRA, I am proud to fight for Kentuckians’ constitutional rights. If our Democratic colleagues are truly concerned about crime, they should focus more on prosecuting criminals than coming after law-abiding Americans.”   

The Lake City ammunition facility, which employs approximately 1,700 skilled workers, contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense to equip American warfighters. By allowing the facility to also manufacture ammunition for commercial sale, the Lake City plant can be constantly prepared to switch to military production when necessary. In effect, the law-abiding gun owners who purchase ammunition from this facility are subsidizing military readiness. 

The misguided effort from Democrat attorneys general seeks to intimidate the Lake City ammunition facility. Their tactic is not only an overt attempt to punish Americans’ exercise of their Second Amendment rights, but it would also cause a detrimental loss of jobs and economic activity. If the Biden Administration does what Democrat attorneys general ask, law-abiding Kentuckians would likely face higher prices and decreased availability of ammunition.

The Republican attorneys general wrote: “This is part of an ongoing, and constitutionally dubious agenda to stop commercial ammunition sales in order to weaken the Second Amendment. Gun control advocates want to criminalize making ammunition even while many push back against prosecuting criminals that fire weapons. Perpetrators of gun violence should be punished—not the firearm and ammunition manufacturers.”

General Coleman joined attorneys general from Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Montana who led the letter. Also signing the letter were attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Read the entire letter from the Republican attorneys general here