Does anyone believe that the Georgia Department of Public Safety can do any better with a database of millions (perhaps billions) of bullets?

As the NRA points out in their Ammunition Summary, there is a long history of efforts to curtail and restrict private gun ownwership by taxing or outlawing ammunition. NRA lists numerous good reasons to oppose the Maryland (2008) legislation and any similar ammunition encoding legislation.

In effect, such ammo legislation becomes a massive tax on ammunition users who will foot the bill which effectively infringes on our Second Amendment rights and which makes recreational shooting cost prohibitive. .22 Caliber ammunition which can be used in rifles as well as handguns is subject to this tax.

Anyone with minimal knowledge of ballistics knows that hollow points and fragmenting projectiles are very unlikely to be recoverable with usable encoding. Revolvers and guns equipped with brass catchers will not leave encoded casings at crime scenes. And finally, we know that criminals obey "gun control" laws in the same manner that politicians follow their oaths of office. Most steal the weapons and ammunition they use in crime. The proposed database will lead police investigators to the victims of theft and very seldom to the wrongdoer.

As Mark Twain once said, "No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session." At least one legislator is plotting another goofy waste of your money... AND your liberties are under attack. We should all take action right away.

Various sportsmens groups (e.g., the Camo Coalition, et al) and gun rights groups are gearing up to oppose SB 12 in Georgia. We, the people, need to make sure that this attempt to take our rights fails.

Please contact your State Senator and House Representative (and Sen. Ramsey) and let them know you oppose SB 12. You can use the form on the Camo Coalition website ( www.camocoalition.com/takeaction.asp?aaid=3669 ) or write your own email. Find your legislator.

Below is the letter I wrote to Sen. Ramsey, Sen. Staton and Rep. Peake.

Opposed to SB 12 I am opposed to SB 12 you pre-filed requiring coding of ammunition used in handguns. I am copying my state senator and representative with this message so they will know of my opposition and to ask them not to support this bill. This bill is a threat to the Second Amendment and to all hunters and shooters. As a Georgia Sportsman, I appreciate your dedication to public service; however, I oppose any public officials’ attempt to negatively impact my sport, our outdoor traditions or my second amendment right through measures such as this. SB-12 is a massive tax on ammunition users requiring enormous spending on tracking efforts with very very little payoff in terms of law enforcement. I buy ammunition for my .22 caliber guns (rifles and handguns) by the hundreds because they are more affordable for the target shooter. Your feel-good legislation accomplishes nothing substantial in crime reduction while making our recreation prohibitively costly. Sir, as an attorney, do you have any knowledge of ballistics? Hollowpoint rounds disintegrate on impact and leave little trace. Revolvers and weapons equipped with brass-catchers leave no brass at crime scenes. Again, SB-12 offers very little value relative to its cost. I urge you to research the subject and withdraw this harmful legislation. Doing otherwise suggests that your real motivation is to effectively neuter the 2nd Amendment. www.newswithviews.com/Pratt/larry84.htm Sincerely, Steve Scroggins Macon, GA

"Wherever standing armies are kept up, and when the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. " --Henry St. George Tucker, Blackstone’s 1768 Commentaries on the Laws of England