This is not the first time gun control advocates have targeted ammunition. You may recall that New York’s post-Sandy Hook dead-of-night signed-into-law-as-an-emergency-measure SAFE Act contained a provision mandating ammunition licensing, shelved (but not eliminated) due to the fact that it would be insanely expensive, not to mention completely unworkable. Politicians in various gun control enclaves have also proposed adding tax to ammo. But Ted Schaefer’s letter to St. Louis Post Dispatch breaks new ground in ammo-flavored gun control fervor. Here’s his proposal . . .
• License purchases of ammunition in a state- or federal- run store.
• Re-issue licenses like a driver’s license — every five years with new photo ID and background, safety quiz and recent sanity check issued by a certified physician.
• Maintain completed background checks for all licensees in a federal database, including fingerprints, photo ID and DNA, and list of guns owned — no exceptions or loopholes.
• Maintain a database cross-referenced with mental-health records.
• Record all bullet purchases in a database.
• After any sale of a gun, disallow purchase of bullets for it until the new owner adds it to his or her list.
• Tax bullets like cigarettes to compensate for the harm caused.
• Make bullets traceable: where purchased and by whom.
• Limit the quantity that can be purchased within a period of time.
• Offer routine bullet buy-back campaigns.
• Require the return of spent cartridges before any new purchases, with some special provision for gun ranges.
These licensing measures shouldn’t prevent the legitimate use and ownership of firearms and ammunition.
That has got to be the least practical, most draconian gun control proposal I’ve ever seen. But then I’m not trying to degrade and destroy Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
[h/t andypantera]