In the latest assault on gun ownership, California passes an ammo permit fee where residents must pay $50 and submit to a background check.
If the check is passed, their name is placed on an electronic list of those eligible to purchase ammunition. If a person’s name is not on the list, they can’t buy ammo.
The California Senate passed a bill in late May that would require gun owners to pay a $50 fee simply for the right to buy ammunition – a free that will be used to administer a background check. The California Department of Justice then would determine if the gun owner has a record that would prevent the purchase of ammo.
In March Guns & Ammo magazine ranked California 47th in its list of best states for gun owners, ahead of only Massachusetts (48th), New Jersey (49th) and New York (50th). (Arizona ranked first, Vermont second and Alaska third.)
The bill, SB53, advanced to the Assembly, where it passed a committee in early July.
If liberals want to derail the right to bear arms and ensure that common citizens cannot afford to defend themselves, the cost-prohibitive purchase ammo fee might do the trick.
How to hide your guns, and other off grid caches…
The great ammo shortage of 2013 is still in full swing. Many store shelves remain relatively empty and demand has driven prices up in locations around the country. Between ammo grabbing by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the California ammo permit law, gun owners in the West Coast state may soon be entirely out of bullets.
Making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to obtain guns and ammunition may only increase the growing crime rate in the nation’s most populous state. High taxes and laws infringing on freedoms have prompted thousands of California residents to relocate elsewhere, Texas in particular.
The $50 ammo permit bill was but one of several gun bills passed by the Senate. Another bill, SB 374, outlawed “large-capacity” magazines (over 10 rounds) and detachable magazines. It passed the Senate and currently is in the Assembly. The Assembly passed a bill, AB48, that requires the California Department of Justice to notify local law enforcement officials if someone purchases more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition within a five-day period.
California state Sen. Tom Berryhill, who voted against the bill, said requiring an ammo fee would “do nothing to stop criminals from purchasing ammunition.”
“These restrictions – like most of the gun legislation we are seeing here today – won’t do a thing to stop crime,” he said, according to CNSNews.com. “They will only hurt the law-abiding citizens like hunters and sportsmen who, for the record, contribute millions to the state’s economy.”
Here’s how the ammo permit bill – if it becomes law – would work: Prior to gun owners purchasing ammunition at a local store, they first must pay the one-time $50 fee and be subject to a background check. If they pass, their name is placed on an electronic list of those eligible to purchase ammunition. If a person’s name is not on the list, he or she can’t buy ammo.
Buying and manufacturing semi-automatic rifles which can accommodate detachable magazines will now be illegal as well. Any California citizen who currently owns such a weapon must register the rifle with state officials.
All the anti-Second Amendment laws will do is cost California gun stores and ammo retailers business – potentially creating employee layoffs in the process. Gun-owning residents simply will opt to buy their ammunition online and venture into a bordering state to fulfill their needs. The semi-automatic rifles portion of the law will do nothing to deter crime, Second Amendment advocates say. As Indiana Boone County Sheriff Ken Campbell demonstrated in a video that went viral, any size magazine can be emptied and reloaded (by any level of shooter) quickly. Thus, a villain with several five- or 10-capacity magazines can still kill a multitude of people in a short amount of time.
Surviving Doomsday author Richard Duarte, who also is a Miami attorney and firearms expert, said there is a bill in the Florida legislature “that would make it illegal for individuals to purchase ammunition unless they had completed a state-approved anger management class.” Violations could result in at least 60 days in jail and up to one year, he said.
“Have we all lost our minds?” Duarte asked. “And what kind of idiots are we electing to public office? How can any rational person look at this pending bill and think that it makes any sense at all, or that it would have any sort of positive impact? If it’s not already obvious, it will soon become painfully obvious that the average citizen has to start paying attention and taking a more active role in holding elected officials accountable for their actions. If we fail to do this, there will be a time, in the very near future, when we will look around and not recognize the country we live in.”
In May, California Attorney General Kamala Harris certified legislation which mandates that all new semi-automatic handguns utilize stamping technology, which would provide identifying information on bullet casings. It will be required on new semi-automatics, Harris said. According to KABC-TV, the law requires semi-automatic guns to stamp the gun’s make, model and serial number on each bullet. The law is being challenged in court by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Calguns Foundation.
Gene Hoffman, chairman of the Calguns Foundation, called the new law part of an “incremental ban on firearms.”
Said Second Amendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “It is clear the intent of anti-gun lawmakers is not to regulate firearms but to ban them via increasingly restrictive legislation.”
Signs like this one have been popping up in the yards of California gun owners: “My neighbor doesn’t like guns, so I promise not to use mine to defend him.”
At this point, a poignant slogan born out of frustration is about the only recourse pro-Second Amendment Golden State residents have in the fight for their gun rights — unless they can afford to move. The desire to not have Ted Nugent living next door has been expressed by some anti-Second Amendment activists there. The short-sightedness of such an argument may become tragically clear if the “gun free zone” folks are faced with an intruder at their door. I would much rather have a Ted Nugent type living next door instead of a helpless victim who could not help protect my family during civil unrest. A smile and a cold glass of lemonade will not dissuade a drug addict or gang member during a search for an easy target — but my Ruger handgun would make a lasting impression.
The purpose is even more insidious!
As a CA gun owner you are required to register all your guns, unless you have some special exemption. How long before the DOJ sends the local PD or ATF to your door because you are buying ammo for guns you don’t have registered?? O they might outright not sell it to you!
Also, in this leftist “utopia”…I wonder if the background check systems will “breakdown”.
I agree this will be a boon for neighboring states!
Any one in calif get to your nearest gun store and sign one of the petitions to get on the ballot a repeal of these new laws
if enough people sign the petitions it will at least force the state to move the starting date for these new laws back from july 1 2017 to july2018
http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-businessman-proposes-referenda-on-six-1468630073-h
https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/californians-start-shopping-now-four-months-left-beat-ban/
The NRA has abandoned Calif. which is why I no longer renew.
With all the clout they have, they should be fighting for gun owners all the way to the SCOTUS if needed, but instead, they are letting looney libs & the 9th circuit court continue to undermine our 2A rights.
No Factory mags, no detachable mags on rifles, bullet permits, etc…
Where is the NRA?
Gov. Brown is an idiot. Diane freak show Fienstien is an idiot. Barbara Boxer is a blithering idiot. Those that voted these idiots in are morons. Like others, I will purchase my ammo in other states. Wish I could move from this state of morons but the wife won’t leave the grandkids.
Get a new wife!
@Shecky, you forgot DeLeon, the biggest douche in office. That idiot has no idea what hes talking about. Oh and Newsome can never be allowed to be the Governor of CA! That would be a disaster!
I do know this; Barbara Boxer is the most perfect example a lying politician. I remember when she first ran for office. She stated that she was pro 2nd Amendment. A couple hundred of us waited for her to come to the VFW in Rio Linda to tell us all about it. She never showed up. She had the election won and decided we didn’t need to hear from her. The problem is that these freakin liberals in this country anymore have no morals whatsoever. They are quick to jump on any band wagon that suits there ideology without any knowledge. It means nothing to them that someone is a liar. My father always used to say, “You can go to hell just as fast for lying as you can for stealing”. They probably have no idea of what that means. They have turned San Francisco into another Sodom and Gomorrha, or a Roman Empire before it fell. I have heard recently that San Francisco is losing it’s tourist trade because of all the rampant homosexual display and homeless people on the street. What person wants to go sit down in a restaurant where someone just sat that was completely naked. These people are sick, and a bunch of whining babies. You didn’t see republicans going around demonstrating and rioting when Obama won the presidency.
The intentions behind all of this was supossably to reduce criminal activities, but what these stupid lawmakers don’t understand is if a criminal managed to get his or her hands on a non registered ar15 then getting the ammo shouldn’t be much more difficult regardless of any law or ban. This is all a b******t way to tax, us citizens and make billions off of us
Not so fats guys who are planing on beating this law with an out of state purchased ammo. Don’t forget they are idiots, but evil idiots so they put a provision in the law so the maximum you are allowed to bring from another state is 50 rounds of your choosing, that’s it!
This is not about guns or ammo..This is an easy to pass tax that gun haters vote for under the guise of protecting citizens..
I’m in the same boat, wish I could ditch this state, but there’s too much holding me here. Kahliforhnia legislature needs to gather in SF for the next big quake and hopefully cast off to sea (sorry to those in SF, get out while you still can). At least they’ll never be able to take away my molotovs though 😉
This law hurts the current gun owners .. criminals will get their ammo across state lines or steal anyway.. !!!
One more way to try and slam gun owners ..
Just wondering if this law is in effect since it passed on 11/8/16.. or is it delayed
I was never into guns, but I bought a 9MM glock on 9/2016 for the hell of it. Well I wish I bought a gun years ago, these things are insanely fun at the range. Even my girlfriend loves to shoot. Well needless to say I learned about these stupid laws and found out everything cool is getting banned, so within a month of owning a hand gun, I now own an AR and AK. I’ll be buying a few more before the year is over as well as several thousand rounds of ammo. I may be broke by years end, but I will have a nice little armory going