With nearly every gun control imaginable already on the books, Democrats in California are now weighing ways to control ammunition.
Breitbart News reported that California ushered in 2018 with ammunition controls by mandating that residents only buy in-state ammunition, and requiring that those purchases be made from state-approved ammunition vendors.
January 1, 2019, will witness phase two of the ammunition controls by requiring that ammo purchases pass a point-of-sale background check for a box or bullets or shells. A fee will be required to cover the cost of the background check, thereby increasing the price paid for ammunition.
As with firearms, background checks for ammunition will lead to a database on ammunition purchasers.
The New York Times reports:
Beginning next year, ammunition dealers across the state will be required to maintain logs of all sales — one of many steps California has taken to limit access to bullets. The efforts come as federal lawmakers fail to break the stalemate that for decades has blocked any new major gun control measures, despite a nationwide groundswell from students pushing for more restrictions in the wake of multiple massacres on high school and college campuses.
California lawmakers are achieving their ammunition controls by appealing to federal law says persons prohibited from firearm purchases are also prohibited from buying ammunition.
National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Larry Keane commented on the increased hassle law-abiding citizens will face when buying ammunition, and he also noted the increased price, as the system of ammunition background checks is funded with additional fees.
Keane said, “Raising taxes on bullets to offset the cost of gun violence is akin to putting a levy on prescription drugs to pay for the price of heroin addiction.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.