Most people think it’s a good idea to keep guns and ammunition out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is a point-of sale system for determining eligibility to purchase a firearm. Licensed gun dealers are required to use NICS to determine if a buyer can legally purchase a gun. Federal law prohibits convicted felons, the mentally ill and dangerous people from possessing both guns and ammunition. However, this law is not enforced for ammunition sales and ammo buyers do not need to pass background checks. Sellers of ammunition are unlicensed and are not required to keep sales records - as is required of gun dealers. Similarly, ammunition purchased online can be shipped directly to the purchaser. In 2024, a federal court blocked enforcement of California's ammunition background check law.

Safety advocates say we need to screen ammunition purchases for the same reasons we do gun purchases. Gun advocates oppose any kind of background check that leads to a registration database which they claim could conceivably lead to gun confiscation.

Pending Legislation: H.R. 4227 - Ammunition Modernization and Monitoring Oversight (AMMO) Act
Sponsor: Rep. Robert Garcia (CA)
Status: House Committee on the Judiciary
Chair: Rep. Jim Jordan (OH)

• I oppose reforming current ammunition background checks policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Speaker Mike Johnson (LA).
• I support regulating ammunition sales by requiring federal licensing for sellers, implementing background checks for ammo buyers, banning bulk sales, ending straw purchases, and mandating data sharing, essentially closing loopholes by applying gun-dealer rules to ammunition sales to curb gun violence by:
  
  1.) Requiring businesses selling ammunition to obtain the same federal license as firearm dealers.
  
  2.) Requiring a background check before the transfer of ammunition from licensed sellers to non-licensees.
  
  3.) Limiting bulk ammunition purchases for individuals, often around 1,000 rounds of common ammo within 5 days.
  
  4.) Prohibiting individuals from buying ammunition for someone else to circumvent laws.
  
  5.) Requiring data sharing on ammunition sales to track potential misuse.
  
  And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Jim Jordan (OH) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.