Dem lawmakers to announce bill limiting online ammo sales

Two Democratic lawmakers on Monday will announce new legislation to regulate the online and mail-order sale of ammunition. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (N.Y.) said the new law would make the sale of ammunition “safer for law-abiding Americans who are sick and tired of the ease with which criminals can now anonymously stockpile for mass murder,” in a statement released Saturday. The lawmakers cite the recent movie massacre in Aurora, Colo. for spurring their bill. “The shooter who killed 12 and injured 58 in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater this month had purchased over 6,000 rounds of ammunition anonymously on the Internet shortly before going on his killing spree, according to law enforcement officials,” the statement reads. “The shooter used a civilian version of the military’s M-16 rifle with a 100-round drum magazine, a shotgun and two .40-caliber semi-automatic handguns commonly used by police officers.” Lautenberg and McCarthy, who will unveil their new proposal at New York’s City Hall say they intend to “make it harder for criminals to anonymously stockpile ammunition through the Internet.” Lautenberg and McCarthy are two high profile advocates of gun control legislation, but they face an uphill struggle in Congress...more