Californians Can Now Buy Ammunition Online Just Like Free Americans
Last Thursday, I received a flurry of emails from ammunition dealers boasting variations on “now shipping directly to California residents.”
“Due to a recent US District Court ruling in California, demand for ammunition has increased significantly,” popular vendor Brownell’s noted. “We have plenty of ammo in-stock, but If you find that the ammo you want is unavailable, don’t worry!”
That was a quick heads up—within hours—that a panel of three judges for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found California’s restrictive ammunition laws to be in violation of the Second Amendment. Like Americans in free states, Californians no longer need to jump through legal hoops—or illegally cross the state line—to feed their guns. They can make their purchases cash-and-carry or place orders online.
Background Checks for Bullets
In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 63 which, among other provisions, required background checks for every single ammunition purchase.
“Prior to the passage of Proposition 63 of 2016 (The Safety for All Act) and Senate Bill No. 1235 (SB 1235) (Reg. Sess. 2015-2016), the sale or transfer of ammunition was not regulated in California,” according to the office of Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general. “Proposition 63 and SB 1235 authorized the Department to complete an ammunition eligibility check or to verify that an individual’s Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is valid when the individual purchases or transfers ammunition from or through an ammunition vendor.”
Initially, the fee for the “standard” background check for those already in the Automated Firearm System (AFS) because they registered firearms was $1.00 per purchase, which recently went up to $5.00 (and who knows what it would have cost in the years to come). Basic checks for those not in the system as gun owners cost $19 for every purchase. Buying ammunition on trips out of state and transporting it back was outlawed in most cases, though it remained common. But that’s irrelevant, since the fees and the bur
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