Texas bill seeks to require ID for bulk ammo sales

AP Photo/Lisa Marie Pane

No matter where you go, there will be those who seek to restrict your ability to exercise your right to keep and bear arms. It’s just far less likely to go anywhere in a state like Texas.

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And yet, there’s a bill up for consideration there that would require an ID in order to buy ammunition in bulk.

In the wake of the Uvalde massacre, several gun reform bills have been introduced this legislative session.

And in our latest episode of Y’all-itics we explore whether any of the proposals will even make it out of committee.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat from San Antonio whose district includes Uvalde, is behind much of the legislation

Among other things, Senator Gutierrez’s bills would address a bulk ammunition database, in which case you’d have to show ID to buy bullets in bulk, similar to the way consumers now have to purchase pseudoephedrine. And a purchase of 200 rounds or more of ammunition would require a background check.

Of course, 200 rounds aren’t “bulk” or anything of the sort. It’s a day at the range for many of us.

Seriously, if I’ve gone to the range and not burned through at least that, I feel like I wasted the trip. And yet, Gutierrez thinks that warrants having to show a picture ID?

And a background check?

Let’s understand something here. Gutierrez is trying to spin this as being about Uvalde, but it’s not. This is about people like you and me.

The Uvalde killer had no criminal background check. Buying a couple of hundred rounds wouldn’t have been an issue, even with a background check. He’d have still done it and no one would have batted an eye, especially in Texas where 200-round sales are nothing.

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It doesn’t even inhibit more garden-variety bad guys, since they tend not to buy ammo in what Gutierrez calls “bulk.” They’ll buy a box of 50 or so and call it good. It’s not like they go to the range on a weekly basis or anything.

So that just leaves little old us.

We’re the ones likely to buy in “bulk” and have to undergo the background check process. We’re the ones who will have to hand over an ID to stock up before a range day. We’re the ones who are going to basically feed into a database of who is buying ammo and most likely what kind.

If you can’t see why that’s an issue, seek help.

The good news is that this is, in fact, Texas. While Gutierrez can talk about Uvalde families and supposedly sympathetic Republican lawmakers, there’s almost zero chance this ever sees the other side of being in committee, much less become law.

Yet let’s also recognize that it was introduced for a reason. Gutierrez is either reading the room and believes it’ll have a shot at some point in the near future or he’s delusional.

If you’re in Texas, don’t bank on the latter. Call your legislators and demand (politely) that they openly and vehemently oppose this bill.

 

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