Legislation requiring law enforcement notification of ammunition sales of more than 1,000 rounds was introduced by California state lawmakers on Wednesday.
Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) and Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland) co-authored AB 2512.
"Among the most shocking details from the shooting massacre in Colorado is the undetected stockpiling of mass ammunition and weapons by the alleged shooter," Assemblywoman Skinner said in a statement. "While incidents like Aurora may be rare, gun violence is an ongoing, yet unnecessary threat in communities throughout California. As lawmakers we need to do everything we can to minimize it.”
The proposal would require vendors "who sell, supply, deliver, or give possession of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition to an individual within any five day period to report the transaction to the local law enforcement agency where the individual resides within 24 hours."
“California has been a national leader in adopting thoughtful gun safety laws," said AB 2512 co-author Senator Hancock. "This legislation will close a loophole that allows people to purchase large caches of deadly ammunition without law enforcement’s knowledge and devices intended to get around the ban on large capacity cartridges."
In the weeks prior to the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the suspected gunman purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the internet without triggering suspicion. The bill's authors aim for AB 2512 to provide a level of oversight they feel is lacking and could avoid similar outcomes in California.
Additionally, the bill would outlaw the sale of devices capable of converting an ammunition feeding device into a large-capacity magazine, commonly called "clip kits".
California state law does not requiring tracking or reporting of large-quantity ammunition transactions.
“We want to do what we can to prevent future deadly attacks with multiple casualties," said Assemblyman Ammiano, also a co-author of the bill. "Why not make it harder for perpetrators to fire off hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a short time?"
The newly introduced bill to track ammunition sales joins fellow pending legislation SB 239, targeting clip restrictions for semi-automatic weapons. That bill is backed by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris.