New ID requirement for ammo purchases catches gun owners by surprise

Regulations proposed this week by the state Department of Justice require ammunition buyers to submit the same type of federally-compliant identification needed to board an airplane.

The new rules are catching some gun owners by surprise.

The regulations were introduced Monday, in advance of the July 1 implementation of state law mandating the presentation of identification when buying pistol, rifle and shotgun ammunition.

Second amendment supporters say that it was the first notification that simply using a non-federally compliant ID would not be allowed. Many Californians have not visited the state Department of Motor Vehicles to apply for the new identification cards, or REAL ID, which will be needed by Oct. 1, 2020, to board an airplane .

Efforts to reach the DOJ for comment on this story were unsuccessful.

Under the new law, ammunition buyers with the right documents would be able to make their purchases after going through the same sort of instant background check needed to purchase a firearm. Without a REAL ID, however, a purchaser would need additional documents, such as a birth certificate or a passport.

The requirement for federally-compliant identification will also mean that anyone issued a California Driver’s License as an undocumented immigrant would not be able to purchase ammunition, according to Sam Paredes, of Gun Owners of California.

Paredes said he “fully expected” the American Civil Liberties Union to object to the regulations on that basis.

However, when asked for comment, Tammerlin Drummond, a spokeswoman for the ACLU, said, “The ACLU doesn’t deal with issues pertaining to the Second Amendment.”

The DOJ was the target of a lawsuit in July 2018 when critics said its computerized system for the registration of assault weapons crashed as the deadline ticked down. Paredes said he expected similar issues as the new law goes into effect.

“I don’t expect them to be ready at all,” he said. “It’s a mess.”

A lawsuit challenging the ammunition purchase requirements, Rhode vs. Becerra, has been filed in federal court.

This story was originally published June 20, 2019 at 11:34 AM.