Gun Store Owners Lacking Paperwork Regarding New Ammo Sale Law
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- We're two weeks away from a new state law about how people buy bullets. It's a battle over law versus order; two years after these regulations passed through the legislature.
This new ammunition law takes effect February 1st, but gun shop owners say they don't even have the paper they're supposed to take fingerprints on, and they have no idea what's supposed to happen to them afterwards.
The state says it's ready to pull the trigger on the new law, which requires fingerprinting and ID for anyone buying handgun ammunition.
The goal is to keep track of criminals who aren't supposed to have guns.
But those on the front lines, the people who sell guns, say two weeks away from the law taking effect, there are still more questions than answers.
"What type of ammo, how old you have to be to get ammo or whether it fits in a rifle or a handgun," said Gary Chapman.
But Chapman says the most basic question is "Where are the forms they're supposed to take fingerprints on?" Chapman says a call to the Department of Justice garnered this answer:
"They said their lawyers were looking at it."
And while Chapman thought local law enforcement agencies would collect the forms, a call to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department garnered this answer:
"Never, as far as I can tell they have no plans to pick up the forms. Time are such that department resources are stretched as thin as they are."
Although the law says local agencies will be reimbursed, Sheriff's spokesperson Deputy Jason Ramos says he hasn't heard about any money and the department just doesn't have the resources to enforce the law.
"As an agency we're cognizant of the importance of potentially doing that, but we can't sacrifice the core functions that our department has to provide to the community," says Ramos.
Gun store are now left hoping that the state isn't jumping the gun on the law.
"We could lose our license if we don't adhere to law, but nobody knows what it is," says Chapman.
The new law also means handgun owners can't buy ammo online.
