Senator Elizabeth Warren said she will introduce legislation on Thursday designed to halt the civilian sale of military-grade ammunition produced at a U.S. Army-owned manufacturing facility, citing evidence that some rounds have been diverted to Mexican drug cartels and that AR-15 ammunition from the plant has been used in numerous U.S. mass shootings.
The Stop Militarizing Our Streets Act, which Warren is set to unveil with co-sponsorship from Senator Andy Kim and Representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin, would bar Pentagon contractors from selling certain military-style assault weapons and ammunition to civilians. The measure also would require military contractors to restrict commercial sales to dealers who meet minimum safety standards, including customer screening and a low incidence of prior sales that were later linked to crimes.
The legislation singles out the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, a facility originally built during World War Two to serve the U.S. military and currently the largest manufacturer of rifle ammunition for the armed forces. The plant is operated by Olin Winchester, a business unit of Olin Corporation. Under the Armys existing agreement with Winchester, ammunition not purchased by the service may be sold into the civilian market.
Warren stated that high-powered .50-caliber cartridges seized by Mexican authorities from cartels have been traced to the Lake City plant. She said Americans tax dollars should not be used to fuel gun violence and urged Congress to act to prevent military-produced weapons and ammunition from ending up with criminal organizations, cartels, or those who commit mass shootings.
Warren also cited an investigative report from 2023 that found AR-15 ammunition from the Lake City plant was used in at least a dozen mass shootings in the United States since 2012, including the attacks in Aurora, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Parkland, Buffalo, and Uvalde. The senators office said the bill would close pathways by which munitions produced for military use can enter civilian channels without sufficient safeguards.
The facilitys operator, Olin Winchester, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Warrens statement. The proposed law would compel contractors who supply the military to impose tighter controls on where excess inventory is sold and to whom it is sold, limiting commercial distribution to dealers that adhere to specified safety practices.
Proponents of Warrens proposal frame it as an effort to prevent military-grade armaments and ammunition from enabling violence domestically and abroad, pointing to documented instances in which cartridges from the Army-owned plant have been recovered at crime scenes and in cartel seizures. The measure aligns legislative scrutiny on the intersection of military production, private commercial sales, and downstream public safety concerns.