Californian Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom is hitching his 2018 gubernatorial campaign to a statewide ballot proposal that would sharply restrict the sale of ammunition.
“It seems to me the most dangerous part of the weapon is not the weapon itself, it’s the ammunition,” he said April 1.
He wants anyone buying ammunition to endure a background check similar to the one that would-be gun buyers currently have to pass to buy a firearm.
According to the Press Democrat, Newsom, speaking at the Graton casino, told a story about being denied a Sudafed cold medicine purchase because he did not have a driver’s license to show at the pharmacy counter. He suggested it is strange that a person has to show ID to buy cold medicine but not ammunition.
In addition to ammunition background checks, Newsom also pledged to add new reporting requirements for licensed firearms dealers, to increase reporting of prohibited gun owners to the FBI database, and to require a license for anyone selling ammunition.
Newsom is also pushing a ban on the possession of “high capacity” magazines. He says such magazines are “disproportionately responsible for mayhem.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.