California ballot initiative aims to make it harder to acquire ammunition

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

California ballot initiative aims to make it harder to acquire ammunition

Anita Chabria in Sacramento
Friday 4 December 2015 15.32 GMT

In the shadow of the San Bernardino massacre where two assailants armed with more than 1,600 rounds of bullets killed 14 people and wounded 21, California advocates have a plan brewing to regulate the sale of ammunition.

Gun control advocates led by California lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom recently introduced a ballot initiative that would ban possession of high-capacity magazines, and govern ammunition sales in the state similar to the way gun sales are currently handled by requiring background checks and permits for purchase.

“Currently if I want to buy cold medicine, I have to go to the store and show my ID,” said Ari Frielich, staff attorney for San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which helped to write the initiative. “But I can have ammunition shipped to my door as if it was pizza ... Ammunition is a deadly instrument and it’s time we treated it as such.”

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California’s proposed ballot measure would require that those seeking to purchase ammunition be screened by the Department of Justice to vet them for felony convictions, violent misdemeanors, restraining orders or mental illness. Once cleared, a consumer would receive a permit tied to their driver’s license number or other valid identification. This ID would then be presented to ammunition dealers, who would be required to run a real-time computerized check before finalizing the sale.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/04/california-ballot-initiative-ammunition-sales-san-bernardino-shooting

[deathrind]

1. Very good move.

The 2nd say nothing about ammo. The staff attorney is absolutely right. Ammo is every bit as deadly as cold medicine used for meth, there is no reason one should be able to order ammo over the Internet and have it delivered right to your door.

Republicans are found of the saying a "few bad apples" etc etc. Well this is a case where a "few bad apples" have made it necessary to make procurement of these items harder to do. As for the talking point that the"bad guys" won't obey the laws that's a red herring, we have lots of laws and there are always going to be people that ignore them that does mean we should not have them.

[gejohnston]

2. on the federal level

registering ammo with the dealer was part of the Gun Control Act. Your DL info, lot number of the ammo, and caliber. It was ditched in 1986, even the ATF said it was a waste of time then.
Actually, the 2d does say ammo. It is part of arms.

[DonP]

3. Great way to hand millions more over to the NRA

Ammunition has been considered part of "arms" as far as legal issues for decades. So "stop trying to be too cute by half" as the Appellate court told the City of Chicago when it tried to ban ammo and shooting ranges in the city limits.

The material required to exercise a constitutional right is intrinsic to that right. See Minneapolis Star Tribune vs. County Assessor, over excessive taxing on printers ink. It wont fly any more than any outright ban will pass legal muster.

It will just mean Cali will be writing a big check to the NRA, SAF and anybody else that gets in on the suit for at minimum 7 figures for legal fees.

But I'm sure the two shooters would have obeyed this new law because it's so special and creative, while walking past several "no guns allowed" signs to commit multiple murders.

[Eleanors38]

5. Damn. Just when prices were coming down a little.

[Eleanors38]

4. Called The Munitions Profit Enhancement Act, with an added heading:

Reloaders Diversification and Expansion: