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Subscribe to RSSA bill to curb the sale of ammunition over the Internet is set to be introduced in Congress this week, the first piece of gun control-related legislation put forward since the shootings in Aurora, CO, 10 days ago.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) took to City Hall in New York City today to announce their bill that would effectively ban the purchase of ammunition over the Internet for anyone not licensed to do so. But, with little appetite for gun control legislation in the Senate and House, the bill is not likely to advance.
Still, Lautenberg and McCarthy sought to draw attention to the ease with which ammunition can be bought online. The alleged Colorado shooter, James Holmes, reportedly purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet in the weeks before the shooting spree that killed 12 in Aurora, CO, a Denver suburb. Holmes was charged today with 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder.
"If someone wants to purchase deadly ammunition, they should have to come face-to-face with the seller," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It's one thing to buy a pair of shoes online, but it should take more than a click of the mouse to amass thousands of rounds of ammunition."
McCarthy said in a statement: "Law-abiding gun owners and shooters should support this legislation, because it hinders criminals from abusing the Second Amendment right that our nation promises and could save innocent lives in the process."
Before being elected in 1996, McCarthy became an advocate for tighter restrictions on guns after her husband was killed and her son was injured in a shooting on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993.
The bill, called the Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act would require anyone selling ammunition to be a licensed dealer. It would require ammunition buyers who are not licensed dealers to present photo identification at the time of purchase. The bill sponsors say this would effectively ban the online or mail order purchase of ammunition by those, like Holmes, without a license.
In addition, the bill would require licensed ammunition dealers to maintain a record of the sale of ammunition and report the sale of more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition to an unlicensed person within any five consecutive business days.
Lautenberg will try to force a vote on the measure this week by offering the bill as an amendment to Cybersecurity legislation. But aides say that even if it made it to the Senate floor for a vote, it would likely not pass.
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made it clear last week that the Senate will not debate gun control before the election and even beyond that.
As Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) explained to reporters in the wake of the Colorado shootings, the gun lobby is “quite strong.”
"I don't think that there's any appetite for or nothing near a consensus or majority to adopt real gun control, that is to do anything more than is already on the laws with regard to purchasing hand guns and the like," he said.
It is equally unlikely that the Lautenberg-McCarthy bill will see a vote in the House, where Republicans have said they do not intend to consider legislation dealing with gun control.
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What REALLY SHOULD DRAW ATTENTION with the Aurora incident is HOW THE HELL DID and ANY PERSON FOR THAT FACT was able to purchase within MONTHS 4 GUNS of ASSAULT within SEVERAL MONTHS.
What the HELL is going on with CONTROLS???? There seems to be NO CONTROLS ANY LONGER ???
Is that correct NRA and GOP and TEA SHYSTERS. WHO CARES is that it !! about the INNOCENT FREE PEOPLE !!!
Alain - you are absolutely clueless ! ONLY reponsible law abiding citizens will follow any law. Criminals will NOT, no matter how many obstacles you put up or laws that are passed.
Wake up already !!
Buy one gun, learn how to use it SAFELY and PROPERLY - there are many fine NRA courses in firearm safety available.
Then you have a chance to protect yourself and your family. NO guarantee, but when the cops arrived 90 seconds after the Aurora shooting, it was still too late for the 12 people killed.
Speaking of "no controls",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you should try some restraint.
I would say, try some knowledge on the subject, but you appear to be unteachable.
Throwing smoke Bombs in a crowded theatre is illegal.
Setting booby traps for the Police is illegal too.
What about those "Controls"
Oh my...I see some folks are just hopeless, but that's a typical lib reaction.
to Ironx - yes exactly right !
For Liberals, if they pass just one more law we will have utopia, a safe la-la fantasy land.
Stupid fu-cking morons !!!! I absolutely HATE them !!!!
I don't give one $hit about them, but they constantly threaten to take away my rights and my ability to protect myself and my family.
The NRA needs to publish a list of all Democrats who vote for this stupid bill so they can be voted out in November. I will bet NO Democrat in any Western state will even get near it !
Yeah, banning online ammo sales will really teach those lunatics who want to commit mass murder. If one of you liberals can clearly state how this law would have stopped James Holmes or any of the other shooters/shootings mentioned I might actually listen to you.
@SeekingSanity - First you are wrong about "had he been armed with either of these".....James Holmes was armed with 2 semi-automatic Glock .40 caliber pistols, in addition to a 12 gauge shotgun & an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. His AR-15 jammed & so he used the pistol/pistols & the 12 gauge during the massacre too.
You have also proven once again that most liberals don't know a damn thing about guns. You act like you do but you don't. You state that handguns & hunting rifles are alright but no one needs semi-automatics. You try to make yourself sound credible by stating in another post that your brother hunts & he would never use a semi-automatic to hunt. LMAO
Do you realize that an AR-15, like James Homes had, is no different than a semi-automatic hunting rifle? Yes, that's right there are many hunting rifles that are semi-automatic. All modern pistols (not revolvers) are also semi-automatic. Duh....
A semi-automatic doesn't just refer to black rifles that look like their military counterparts. A semi-auto rifle, pistol, or shotgun for that matter all have the same basic function. When you squeeze the trigger 1 time they fire 1 round. Then they load the next round automatically from the magazine (though most of you gun illiterates call it a clip) & you are ready to fire again.
An AR-15 is the civilian semi-automatic version of the military M-16. Both fire 5.56x45mm rounds (.223 civilian). The difference being that an M-16 is a selectable fully automatic rifle (either 3 round bursts or full auto).
I hope you also realize that your average hunting rifles, which are available in many calibers, fire larger more powerful rounds that can do much more damage at a greater distance than the 5.56 (.223) rounds that an AR-15 fires. Yet I don't see anyone whining & complaining about hunting rifles or trying to ban/restrict them. You can also purchase hunting rifles in .223 caliber but most hunters choose to go with the larger more powerful rounds such as .30-06 & larger
Of course you probably won't read this info since you have already moved on to other articles. If by chance you do read this info I hope you have actually learned something about guns so you don't sound so ignorant when speaking about them.
to Oneslackr - I learned something from your post, thank you !
But I own multiple guns - I doubt Liberal $hitheads care. To them, GUNS = BAD !
Total fu-kups !!
Just as the war on drugs created a black market for drugs... the war on ammo will create a black market for ammo... well done, gangs always looking for new lines of business.
This law in unnecessary.
It stats he bought over 6000 rounds of ammo. He didn't even fire off 100 rounds. This law will not stop anything. You can buy 100 rounds any where. If you have ever went target shooting you can fire off 1000+ rounds easy that is why people buy bulk ammo. There only people this law hurts is the 52,000,000+ gun owners in America. Just so you know at 5000 ( I know that isn't dead on but close) murders a year that means just under .00001% of gun owners are murders.
On top of that more gun control laws will not stop people from killing people. This man had saver mental issues. Why are we not doing more to inform people on how to spot these issues sooner, Before something like this happens? The man was not evil he was sick in the head and given no help. Be it because no one noticed it or it was ignored. Gun and ammo controls will not fix that.
If you want to help people. Have are government spend more time on mental health. There are 3 to 4 times more deaths due to suicide then murder every year. Not all murders will be stopped