HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition in calling on the Biden administration to keep a major commercial ammunition manufacturing plant open following a request by Democrat attorneys general to investigate the plant, which would halt production. Shutting down the plant would decrease ammunition supply and undermine national security.
In the letter sent Wednesday to President Biden and White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Director Stefanie Feldman, Attorney General Knudsen opposed the requests by Democrats to open an investigation into the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and called out them out for their misleading attempts to tie the plant to mass shootings. The allegations do not justify placing unreasonable limitations on the plant and undermine the Second Amendment right as one cannot exercise their right to keep and bear arms without access to ammunition.
“The Biden administration and Democrats are treading dangerous ground. They will apparently stop at nothing to keep Americans from exercising their right to keep and bear arms, even if it means diminishing ammunition production capabilities and undermining our national security,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “Worse yet, their latest effort to shut down the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is based on a highly questionable ‘investigation’ by the New York Times.”
Not only is the Lake City plant crucial to the nationwide ammunition supply chain, but the plant has a longstanding contract with the United States Department of Defense to allow for commercial use of the facility for the purpose of supporting military readiness.
“We need to be primed at any moment to increase production and provide our military with much-needed ammunition to provide protection domestically and to our international allies. Lake City remains a vital part of the past, present, and future of the U.S. Military and military readiness. Rather than pushing Lake City out of business, we should be thanking them for the role they play in arming our military,” the attorneys general wrote.
Rather than punishing criminals who perpetrate gun violence, Democrats are attempting to punish the firearms and ammunition industry and are putting the safety of armed Americans trying to protect themselves from violent crime at risk.
“We strongly advise against heeding the Democrat attorneys general request to investigate Lake City. There are no allegations of wrongdoing that could justify placing such unreasonable limits on Lake City or any other firearm, parts, or ammunition manufacturer. If this course continues, we intend to take any and every action necessary to defend our citizens’ Second Amendment rights,” the attorneys general concluded.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming and the North Carolina legislature joined the letter which was co-led by Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri.
Read the letter here.
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