In California it is incredibly rare that the far-left anti-gun radicals in the state legislature find an attack on the Second Amendment to be unpalatable, but the rejection of Kevin “Ghost Gun” de Leon’s attempt to force through a bill mandating background checks and a state permit to buy ammunition was one of those rare instances:

The state Assembly on Saturday failed to muster the votes to approve legislation aimed at identifying criminals and others who are improperly buying ammunition in California.

Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) originally proposed that residents who buy bullets be required to get a state permit and undergo a background check before the purchase to make sure they can legally own guns, but Gov. Jerry Brown opposed that scheme.

The revised bill that failed Saturday would have required ammo sellers to provide information on purchasers to the state Department of Justice after the fact, including name, address, date of birth, date of the sale, brand type and amount.

If the buyer was discovered later to be disqualified from owning guns because of a criminal history or severe mental illness, authorities could then have obtained a warrant to confiscate the ammunition and any weapons found.

The bill would have merely ensured that ammo sellers in California would be crushed under the weight of more meaningless red tape and regulation, while ammo sellers in neighboring Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona would become destination sites for California’s gun owners.

It never ceases to amaze me that in less than half a century, California has devolved from a free and prosperous land that people flocked to for it’s inviting climate and “live and let live” attitude, into little more than a sun-bleached New Jersey.

Why anyone who desires to live the life of a free person subjects themselves to living in such an oppressive state is beyond my understanding.