New California law blocked over 100 people from buying ammo illegally in first month

A new California law requiring background checks for ammo purchases blocked more than 100 people from illegally purchasing bullets in its first month, according to state Attorney General Xavier Becerra.  

“Countless other prohibited persons were likely deterred from even trying to purchase ammunition that they cannot lawfully possess,” Becerra said in a court filing late Monday, The Associated Press reported. 

{mosads}Becerra revealed the statistics in response to gun owner rights groups attempt to strike down the law as an infringement on individuals’ Second Amendment rights. A federal judge is set to give a ruling on the matter later this month, AP noted.

Becerra’s filing added that about 11,000 prospective buyers were denied immediate approval before it was determined that they were permitted to own firearms and buy ammunition. The state argues that the law places no “substantial impediment” on potential buyers. 

The filing came after a weekend where mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, left more than 30 people dead. The incidents occurred just weeks after a shooter opened fire at a food festival in Gilroy, Calif., killing four people and wounding several more. 

The attacks have renewed discussion on the regularity of mass shootings in America and what legislators can do to stop the trend. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said that the federal government should replicate California’s law mandating background checks for ammunition buyers. 

“Guns don’t kill people,” Newsom said, adding that the firearms need ammunition, the AP noted. 

Chuck Michel, an attorney representing the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its California affiliate in its lawsuit against the state law, pushed back against Newsom’s remarks, saying that the “ammo law is not [going to] save any lives.”

“You’re not smoking out the violent felons. Violent criminals aren’t going to buy ammunition and have a background check done,” Michel said. “All of this red tape is just going to push people out of the sport and from owning a gun to defend their families.”

Gun rights groups have charged that background checks take far too long to process. 

The law, which took effect July 1, precludes customers from purchasing ammo at gun shops unless they can show they have a registered firearm and are not on a list of felons or the severely ill.