Reacting swiftly to the July 20th Aurora, Colorado theater shooting, but just before he and the rest of the U.S. Congress left for a 5-week summer vacation, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), introduced a bill that would essentially ban online sales of ammunition to civilians.
Through a complex set of amendments to existing federal gun control law, Sen. Lautenberg's Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act (S. 3458), would require ammunition to be purchased face-to-face only, licensing of ammunition dealers, and reporting regarding bulk purchases of ammunition.
Specifically, Sen. Lautenberg says his bill would:
- Require anyone selling ammunition to be a federally licensed ammunition dealer, importer or manufacturer;
- Require anyone buying ammunition who is not a federally licensed ammunition dealer to present a government-issued form of photo ID at the time of purchase, effectively banning the sale of ammunition online or by mail order;
- Require licensed ammunition dealers to maintain records of the sale of ammunition; and
- Requires licensed ammunition dealers to report to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) any sale of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition to any unlicensed person within any five consecutive business days.
"If someone wants to purchase deadly ammunition, they should have to come face-to-face with the seller," stated Lautenberg in introducing his bill. "It's one thing to buy a pair of shoes online, but it should take more than a click of the mouse to amass thousands of rounds of ammunition.
While the Gun Control Act of 1968 - the cornerstone of U.S. gun control laws - contained measures requiring licensing of ammunition dealers, recording of ammunition sales and banning mail order sales of ammunition, these measures were repealed by sections of the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 (FOPA).
Also See: I'm from the Government and I Have a Gun
Sen. Lautenberg's office says it has seen an "appetite" on the part of the American people for laws like the Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act, as witnessed by Google's recent decision to stop featuring ammunition and firearms sales on its online shopping channels.
"This legislation is a simple common-sense step that would put safeguards in place to detect suspicious activity, helping to prevent the sale of ammunition to a terrorist or the next would-be mass murderer," said Sen. Lautenberg.
Comments
Yet another liberal display of symbolism over substance. The sheer lack of logic our legislators demonstrate when it comes to these arguments confirms to me that they really don’t care if their laws actually work. This will not prevent a single shooting in the future…not one. You can’t legislate behavior by restricting physical items. I would like to point out that murder is presently illegal, has been for a long time, and that did not prevent Holmes from committing the act of murder. Guns were illegal on the theater premises….that didn’t have much of an impact. How would another law have helped here? So if he had only bought 999 rounds, this tradgedy would have been averted???
What this bill will do is hurt the average law abiding guy/gal who excercises their 2A rights on a regular basis. It will drive the cost of ammunition higher – even if you don’t *need* 1K rounds or more, it is cheaper to buy it in bulk. Some sport shooters can go through that many rounds in single outing at the range. Forcing licensing and additional paperwork/reporting drives up the cost for the dealer, who then passes it on to the consumer. This is basic economics.
Finally, is the ATF is going to follow up on each instance where someone buys in bulk? So what would that entail….ATF digging into your medical records everytime you buy ammo? Or are they going to knock on your door to see if you are presently crazy or thinking of being crazy in the future.
Way to think this through Lautenberg…good job.
Lautenberg is one of the most predictable pols in our federal government. Whenever disaster strikes, the Senator offers up yet another poorly tailored bill to abridge the rights of ordinary citizens.
The Democrats are always trying to curb our civil rights with laws like this. It is to be expected.
Now that you gun control dumb_sses are now wanting to restrict ammunition purchases! I will now order 1000 of 5.56mm rounds for my AR-15 and a 90 round Surefire clip. Oh yes I will donate more money to the NRA and I will vote based on the NRA score.
What does it matter if anyone has 100,000 rounds. That does not make them deadly at all? Why. Duh you have to have a gun to use them and they can only be shot one at a time with 1 pull of the trigger with each shot.
Ammo maker will just offer 999 rounds in a case.
Yep, just charge for a case of 999, and lagniappe of one free round!!!!!! The idiots are truly running the asylum these days……
Bills like the Online Ammunition Sales Act (S. 3458) are proof that the politicians we elect are out of touch with reality and incompetent.
Just when it becomes possible that Democrats might have a few good ideas, fools like Senator Frank Lautenberg come along and prove that’s not true. Of course, with few exceptions, the voters of New Jersey have shown a penchant for fools and crooks. Please give us the name and HQ address of whoever runs against Senator Frank Lautenberg, so we can send some campaign money.
The biggest problem is that the one half doesn’t know how the other half lives. Non shooters are all in a lather over “bulk ammo sales”. I have over a thousand rounds on hand. Some I load myself for pistol practice. I get set up and I’ll put up about 200 rounds at a time. The rest is for my M1. I get Greek surplus from the CMP. I also get 7.5 mm for my K31 in bulk. We buy it when we can as we don’t know how much is left, esp the Swiss 7.5. There are modern makers of it but it is more expensive.(in the case of 30-’06 for the M1 waaay more expensive. We are not a threat, nor are we crazy. As for the idiot Launtenberg, this is America, I don’t have to “explain” why I “need” this ammo to you or anyone else. If I break the law you can come after me, otherwise you can go to Hell.
What in the hell is this legislation going to accomplish, except punish those of us that are not nuts? Is appearing in person going to prevent sales of ammo to unstable people? Many, many mentally ill people do not appear to be so at first blush. Leave it to this space cadet to think of something so inane.
not a good thing!
Well said above, not much to add, except “Newton said “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Those of us law abiding citizen’s are taking appropriate measures to be ready to protect our families, friends, selves and communities if needed. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers I go out to all those immediately impacted by these despicable and horrible crimes that keep popping up. Don’t retreat and restrict/punish, but empower and encourage the law abiding citizen’s. Appropriately punish those who break the law!
odefen themselves and others! Knowledge is and