Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner is crafting legislation that would require law enforcement to be notified by the seller when a customer purchases more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.
The Berkeley Democrat said she was outraged at reports that the suspect in the July shooting of dozens of people at a Colorado movie theater had purchased more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition in a short period of time.
Requiring notification when someone appears to be stockpiling ammunition "gives law enforcement at least the ability to assess whether it's something they should be looking into further," said Skinner, who plans to team with Democratic Sen. Loni Hancock of Berkeley on the bill.
Skinner said she is aware that some gun owners purchase large quantities of ammunition for target shooting.
"I'm trying to be somewhat acknowledging of that," she said. "But it doesn't seem to me that anyone who's active in target practice is going to need 6,000 rounds in a short period of time."
Groups representing gun owners have not seen Skinner's bill, but they consistently have argued that anything creating obstacles to purchasing guns or ammunition infringes upon constitutional rights.
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