Two Democrats have introduced legislation that would require consumers to undergo a background check to purchase ammunition.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in the Senate and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., in the House, seeks to close a “loophole” in federal law that prohibits criminals, domestic abusers and the mentally ill from purchasing ammunition, but does not require a background check to prevent such illegal purchases from occurring.
“Ammunition sales should be subject to the same legal requirements as firearm sales, and that includes instant background checks,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The same laws that prevent dangerous individuals from purchasing firearms also prohibit them from amassing arsenals of ammunition, with one major loophole: there are no background checks for ammunition sales to enforce the law. Closing this ridiculous loophole is a common sense component of a comprehensive strategy to reduce gun violence.”
The bill, called the Ammunition Background Check Act, would require federally licensed firearms dealers to run a background check through the National Instant Background Check System on ammunition buyers.
Some states, like California and New York, have passed laws requiring background checks to purchase ammunition. Others, like Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey, require a background check to obtain a permit that allows a consumer to buy or possess ammunition.
But Wasserman Schultz and Blumenthal said such measures are needed at the federal level.
“It takes more than just a gun to take an innocent life. It also takes bullets,” Wasserman Schultz said. “We need to do all we can to make sure neither of them ends up in the wrong hands.”
Congress has been debating numerous measures to strength gun laws in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended marches Washington, D.C., and around the country on Saturday that aimed to pressure lawmakers to pass more stringent gun laws.
The $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress on Friday included two measures addressing gun violence. One seeks to boost states’ reporting to the National Institute Background Check system, and another clarifies a federal law to allow the Centers for Disease Control to conduct research on gun violence.
