The House of Representatives has passed a bill that approves the release for sale of surplus .45 ACP 1911s from the U.S. Army’s stock. The pistols will become available through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP).
The bill is called HR 2810 and it was introduced into the Senate in June 2017. It didn’t take long for this bill to get approval and move through. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Alabama, added language that ensured the handguns would be released from the surplus stock. President Obama actually signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law for Fiscal Year 2016, which allowed the transfer of up to but not more than 10,000 surplus 1911 pistols. However, the surplus stock was never actually released. According to those documents, storing these excess guns costs taxpayers about $200,00o per year!
The language for the NDAS for Fiscal Year 2018 makes the release of these surplus guns mandatory. It still has to be signed by President Trump. If it passes all hurdles, American citizens will be able to buy these guns the same way they would buy a new gun, following a background check.
This is a great update for those of us who like to have actual service weapons. These pistols were in service starting in the Philippine-American war. The come with the original 7-round magazine. We’re hopeful that this will pass, and we’ll definitely be getting our hands on one.
Image from M62/Wikimedia
