Democrats on Capitol Hill last week debuted an effort that would place a series of federal government controls on consumer ammunition sales.
The Ammunition Modernization and Monitoring Oversight (AMMO) Act, introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and in the House by U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), would adopt a very California-like bullet control regime on a national basis. The West Coast progressive bastion in 2019 installed a voter-approved measure that requires all ammunition buyers in the state to undergo a sometimes pricey and lengthy background check from a licensed dealer before they can receive their cartridges while placing restrictions on home delivery of ammo.
The 13-page Ammo Act would echo California's background check requirement – under threat of a fine of up to $250,000 – but use the FBI's National Instant Check System as a vetting database. To help fund the massive increase in checks, the bill authorizes $150 million in additional funds for NICS. This would eliminate home delivery in most cases, forcing those who buy ammo online to have it delivered to a local FFL for transfer, inevitably with a fee. Those completing a check would have to show a valid identification and include their name, address, and signature on a form devised by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Further, the proposal would restrict what it deems to be "bulk ammunition sales" which it defines as "more than 100 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition or more than 1,000 rounds of any other caliber of ammunition in any period of five consecutive days."
The Ammo Act has the support on introduction of all the major (and most of the minor) anti-gun groups including Everytown, Brady, Giffords, March for Our Lives, Community Justice Action Fund, Newtown Action Alliance, National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, Voters of Tomorrow, Sandy Hook Promise, Orange Ribbons for Gun Safety, and Guns Down America.
"Right now, any person can legally purchase tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition in a single transaction with no questions asked, not even a background check," said Kris Brown, President of Brady, kind of missing the whole "shall not be infringed part" of the Second Amendment.
The bill has been introduced in the Senate as S.3223 and the House as H.R. 6172, referred in each case to the chamber's Judiciary committee.
Banner image: Stoeger Freedom M3000 12-gauge shotgun on a bulk pack box of Federal Action Shotgun shells. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
