White House denies claim it is considering limited ammo ban

The White House denies it is considering a ban on ammunition being manufactured by the Lake City ammo plant in Independence, Missouri to the commercial market.

News broke last week that the government is reportedly mulling a restriction on "the manufacturing and commercial sale of legal ammunition" produced at Lake City, according to a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). 

Lake City is a large plant that was initially developed to manufacture and test ammo for the U.S. Army. Now it is owned by the government but run by private contractors who sell ammunition that the government does not need to the consumer market.

According to the National Rifle Association, some estimates suggest that Lake City accounts for one-third of the 5.56 caliber ammunition available to the commercial market in the U.S.

It was initially reported that M855/SS109 ammunition from the plant is what would no longer be made available to the public. Those cartridges are a popular form of 5.56 caliber ammunition, which are used for the AR-15 gun. 

The Washington Examiner over the weekend reported that a White House official called the rumors of a ban "way off." 

A spokesperson for NSSF said that any ban would jeopardize the fragile framework recently agreed upon by a bipartisan group of senators working to establish a gun-control package that may pass Congress.