Ammo in California

[Harrison]

Pardon me if this has been discussed and I missed it.

Is California instituting a new law regarding the sale of hand gun ammo, and are they planning on banning the mail order (or internet order) of handgun ammunition? Will this law just apply to loaded ammo, or does it also include components?

 

[cjw3]

Pardon me if this has been discussed and I missed it.

Is California instituting a new law regarding the sale of hand gun ammo, and are they planning on banning the mail order (or internet order) of handgun ammunition? Will this law just apply to loaded ammo, or does it also include components?

My understanding is that it will only apply to loaded handgun ammunition and will take effect on February 1.

I recently received a Cheaper Than Dirt catalog and they state that they will no longer sell or ship ammunition to residents of CA. I don't know if they are misinformed, playing it safe, keeping it simple or making a statement.

 

[Bruce51]

I believe that the law goes way beyond an internet sales ban or a registering of ammo buyers. Check out the below paragraph from AB 962.

•(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "ammunition" shall include, but not be limited to, any bullet, cartridge, magazine, clip, speed loader, autoloader, or projectile capable of being fired from a firearm with a deadly consequence. "Ammunition" does not include blanks.

It seems to me it regulates anything and everything including components,powder and magazines.

Complete bill link. http://www.ab962.org/ReadAB962.aspx

ironhorse

 

[JayDubya]

Bruce nailed it. Because I'm a Californian who orders his range ammo by internet, I have been following this issue closely. Several entities have sued in federal court to have this law declared unconstitutional. The judge dismissed the case "without prejudice" (meaning the suit was in limbo rather than the trash bin) because its legal points were not yet "ripe" -- don't you love legal terms? Meanwhile, there is a similar suit in a superior court upstate.

If the federal case now in limbo should "ripen", it probably would do so around the principle of interstate commerce, not the second amendment. I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe AB 962 will survive court scrutiny.

Jack