January 27, 1983
Since its inception, this administration has been committed to removing unnecessary and
burdensome Federal redtape. We are also committed to the idea that it is the criminal who is
responsible for violence and crime, not the law-abiding firearms owner. Accordingly, my
administration has sought to remove those restrictions that operate only to burden the law-abiding
and to concentrate law enforcement resources upon criminals.
I was pleased, therefore, to sign into law two amendments to the Gun Control Act of 1968 which
remove the recordkeeping requirement on sales of .22 rimfire ammunition. Prior to this, dealers
were required to verify and record the identity, birthdate, and ammunition type for most retail
ammunition sales. Since several billion rounds of ammunition are sold to sportsmen and
sportswomen each year, a tremendous amount of time and paperwork was involved in recording
these sales. Yet there was little evidence that these recordkeeping requirements were of significant
use in solving crimes.
These amendments will remove needless recordkeeping requirements for the most popular
sporting ammunition, the .22 rimfire, and thus eliminate the paperwork on over a billion rounds
annually.
Note: The amendments are contained in H.J. Res. 631, which provided for continuing
appropriations for fiscal year 1983. As enacted, H.J. Res. 631 is Public Law 97 - 377, approved
December 21, 1982.