News - World: Ammunition made at a US Army-owned factory in Missouri has appeared in more gun crimes than any other brand, according to new federal data, revealing the plant’s vast influence on the civilian market for AR-15 rounds.

An investigation by The New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, drawing on newly released data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has found that ammunition produced at the US Army–owned Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri is tied to a large portion of gun crimes nationwide.

The probe revealed that cartridge casings from the Lake City plant, located just outside Kansas City, were recovered at US crime scenes more than twice as frequently as those from any other manufacturer.

From 2017 through 2024, ammunition from Lake City made up 29 percent of all 5.56-millimeter and .223-caliber rounds recovered in criminal cases - a striking indicator of the plant’s reach into the civilian market, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Built during World War II to supply the military, the facility run by private contractor Olin Winchester under an $8 billion Army contract uses Pentagon-encouraged excess capacity to mass-produce identical military-grade ammunition for cheap commercial sale, rounds later bought in bulk by the gunmen in the 2022 Uvalde and St. Louis school shootings, among others.

Army officials have declined to comment during the ongoing government shutdown but previously told Congress that they do not review or regulate Lake City’s commercial sales.

Families of victims and gun-control advocates, including Uvalde mother Kimberly Mata-Rubio, have sharply criticized the lack of oversight.

“Why don’t we have the full data for production and sales? Is it because the government knows that it is subsidizing commercial ammo tied to domestic bloodshed?,” asked Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed in the Uvalde mass shooting.

Senator Elizabeth Warren described the findings as “horrifying” and has called for legislation barring Pentagon contractors from selling military-grade ammunition to civilians.

Supporters of the plant’s commercial operations, including Republican attorneys general from 27 states, counter that halting production would drive up prices, restrict supply, and infringe on Second Amendment rights.

They said that the manufacturer should not be held responsible for criminal misuse, claiming that civilian sales help sustain military readiness. The Army estimates that using commercial revenue to offset production expenses saves taxpayers between $25 million and $35 million a year.

The revelations boost scrutiny over how taxpayer dollars indirectly support the supply chain for AR-15-style rifles, weapons at the center of many mass shootings.

Despite renewed calls from state attorneys general for a federal review, the Pentagon continues to withhold key data about Lake City’s production, leaving unanswered how much of the ammunition fueling gun violence in the US comes from a facility originally built for war.

Source: Press TV