WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth

Warren will introduce legislation on Thursday to stop a U.S.

Army-owned ammunition plant from selling military-grade bullets

to civilians, asserting that some are being diverted to

arm Mexican drug cartels and have been used in more than a dozen

American mass shootings.

The Stop Militarizing Our Streets Act, co-sponsored by

Senator Andy Kim and Representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie

Raskin, would prohibit Pentagon contractors from selling

military-grade assault weapons and ammunition to civilians.

It would also require that military contractors only sell

firearms and ammunition to commercial dealers that follow

minimum safety practices, such as screening customers and having

a low history of gun sales that are later linked to a crime.

The bill takes aim at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in

Independence, Missouri, a facility built during World War Two to

supply the U.S. military and the largest manufacturer of rifle

ammunition for the U.S. armed forces.

The facility is run by Olin Winchester, part of Olin

Corporation ( OLN ). The Army has a deal with Winchester that

whatever ammunition is not purchased by the service can be sold

commercially on the civilian market.

High-powered .50-caliber cartridges that Mexican authorities

have seized from cartels were traced to the Lake City plant,

Warren said.

Neither Olin nor its subsidiary immediately responded to a

request for comment.

"Americans' tax dollars should not be used to fuel gun

violence," Warren said in a statement. "Congress must step in to

keep Americans safe, and that means stopping the U.S. military

and giant defense contractors from selling weapons of war to

cartels, criminal groups, and mass shooters that terrorize our

communities."

A New York Times investigation in 2023 found that AR-15

ammunition produced at the Lake City plant had been used in at

least a dozen mass shootings since 2012, including the attacks

in Aurora, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs,

Parkland, Buffalo, and Uvalde.